The False Paradise
by Kypress
Summary: Katniss is stuck in the sadistic Hunger Games, and while her and Peeta are desperately trying to win, she finds herself stuck in a cave. And worse, it's with a bloodied and broken Cato. WANRNING: A lot of violence and some cursing.
1. The Fall

**Katniss POV**

Run…

Run and climb. Those are the only things that come into mind as I'm trying to hold my grip on Peeta and climb my way to the top of the cliff in order to avoid the vicious jaws of the mutated mutts below me, in an attempt to devour both me and Peeta.

"Kill it Peeta, kill it!" I scream, as one of the mutts grabs hold of Peeta. He manages to kick the mutt off in time for the both of us to reach the top of the cliff. We both hold each other and stare in awe at the blood-thirsty scene below us.

I'm trying to gasp for air and register what just happened. Those mutts…Those mutated mutts look just like the fallen tributes that have died.

Including Rue….

My poor Rue. I can hardly stand to look at her brown eyes of hatred, focused at me. The smallest of the pack, I easily recognized her.

"Peeta…Those mutts look like…" I whisper.

"I know." He cuts me off. "The dead tributes."

I whirl around, my gaze wildly searching for the one cold-blooded tribute who wanted both me and Peeta dead.

Cato.

He was gasping for air on the other side, but was slowly starting to stand up. I knew his next intention was to finish us off.

I quickly grabbed my bow, aiming at him, but instead I shot at a mutt who was almost about to jump it's way onto the cliff. The mutt was most definitely Thresh. Nobody could jump that high.

I let out a gasp as I felt Peeta being pulled away from me.

Cato stands before me, holding Peeta into a deadly headlock, cutting off his air. Peeta starts to claw his arm, in a weak attempt to free himself.

While I'm thinking of what to do, I just stare at Cato, having his grin mock me.

I pick up my bow and arrow and aim it at Cato's head. I try to avoid his body armor as much as possible, since I know my arrows have no affect on it. Of course they would send him body armor, but they failed to send him face armor.

Although, my triumphant plan ends as Cato laughs at me.

He then stares at me with his eyes of sadistic glee. "Shoot me and he goes down with me."

To my horror, I realize that Cato's right. If I shoot him, he'll just bring Peeta down with him to their pummeling deaths. I bite my lip and feel my muscles straining as I think of what to do next.

I helplessly stare at Peeta and watch as his lips turn blue from the lack of oxygen. As I try to come up with a fast plan, I barely pay any attention to the mutts down below us at all. In my mind, I can just see Panem on the edge of their seats, watching me as I try to make a decision. I give a silent curse. Either let Peeta choke to death, or let him fall to be eaten by the mutts.

However, my blue eyes instantly avert to Peeta as his hand raises and draws an imaginary "x" on Cato's hand.

I get what Peeta wants me to do, and apparently so does Cato since his grin disappears from his face. I release one of my arrows, watching as it struck Cato's hand. He cries out and releases Peeta, who slammed him off the cliff.

I lunge forward and catch Peeta, as Cato loses his footing and plummets to the ground.

We both hug each other, and wait for the cannon to go off.

* * *

><p><strong>Cato's POV<strong>

As it hit the ground, I land with my body instead of my face to have my body armor protect me. I wince as I get up, and instantly stare up at the cliff.

Damn those stupid lovebirds….

As I hear growling, I barely have enough time to turn around as the mutt lunges at me. I swing at it with my sword and cut across it's chest. It gives out a yelp, but not before many other mutts come charging at me.

I wildly swing my sword, injuring every mutt that comes across my path.

Until I saw her eyes….

Clove.

"Clove?" I stop swinging my sword, and stare at her in disbelief. It's her. But she's mutated into a mutt.

She merely growls and snaps at me, while she proceeds to come closer.

I take a few steps back, but I try to convince her. "Clove? It's me, Cato!"

I couldn't hurt her, I wouldn't. I promised her mother, who on the day of our reaping begged me to protect her. She knew what I was capable of, and that I could easily overpower Clove, no matter how strong she was.

But the Clove I knew, she was gone. What stared at me was the emotionless gaze of her eyes, well eyes designed to look like them.

The "Clove" mutt instantly leaped at me, and while I tried to kick it off, more mutts leaped on me and forced me to fall to the ground.

They tore most of my armor off and clawed at my face, which hurt like hell. I tried to punch several of them in the face, but failed miserably since they just took my hand in whole and dislocated it.

I fight for at least an hour, screaming in agony as they tried to devour me. As they dragged me off to the Cornucopia, I merely gave up trying to look for a way back onto the cliff. Without my sword, and my weak bloody body, I was nothing.

Night falls, and I'm bleeding on the cold floor. I feel like roadkill, who's been ran over by a car multiple of times. But lucky for them, they die instantly the car hits them.

I silently moan, and whither in pain. It's disgusting. The once powerful, cold-blooded me, has just became a decrepit, weak, nothing as I stand in the mercy of the mutts.

Why can't they just kill me….?

Oh god, it hurts….so much.

I feel myself drowning in my own pool of blood as I cough up blood multiple times.

The mutts come back every once in a while to mock me, and use me as their chewing toy. I can barely look above the cliff, but as I do I see Peeta and Katniss huddling next to each other in order to keep warm.

"I hope they're comfortable." I bitterly think to myself, still managing to let out sarcastic remarks.

Those lovebird fucks.

I just want to scream at them to wake up. I want to die, already.

As the sun begins to rise, I am now partially blind. So I can only feel the heat radiating off from it. The heat causes me to moan once again, since even the heat on my body is agonizing pain.

I can't move my neck, I can't move anything, so I just slightly move my eyes to find Katniss staring at me in horror. As my world becomes to blur, I just manage to whisper one word.

"Please…"

* * *

><p><strong>Katniss POV<strong>

I stare miserably at Cato, who is now a chunk of meat covered in blood. I can't help but to just feel sorry for him. I know he's a monster, but now I know all he wants is to just die in peace.

"This is your last arrow. Do you think you can get him from here?" Peeta tells me.

I try to find his mouth, because then it would be easier to get a clear shot of his skull, instead of just miss and cause him more pain.

I move closer to the edge of the cliff, and hold aim my bow and arrow to get a clear shot of him.

As I find where his mouth is, I can see him trying to say something. It almost looks like he's trying to say "please."

My breathing becomes more labored as I try to manage up the courage to shoot him.

"Katniss!" I hear Peeta yell, and before I have enough time to turn and look at him, the tiny ledge that I'm standing on gives off and I'm falling…falling…..down the cliff.

"Katniss!" He screams again, and as I land on the ground I can see him trying to climb down the cliff to come get me.

"No!" I shout back at him. "Don't Peeta! Just stay up there, okay? I'll be fine!"

"I'm not leaving you down there!" He shouts back, and I can see his eyes, begging me.

I try to say something back at him but not before I hear the growling of mutts behind me. I know I'm a goner.

The mutts charge at me but then the ground that I'm standing off suddenly gives off. All I hear is the tumbling of rocks, Peeta screaming my name once again, and the yelping and whining of mutts.

My world is then blinded by darkness.


	2. The Fire

**Katniss POV**

My eyes fluttered open, and the moment I tried to lift my head up I instantly regretted it. A wave of dizziness came over me, and the darkness surrounding me began to spin.

I gave out a slight moan and placed my head back on the cold floor. My moans however, were instantly replaced by another set of moans coming from the other side of me.

"Peeta?" I croaked, and slowly began to sit up, my back against the cave wall for support.

Another set of moans began to erupt, and I instantly knew who was making those sounds. It was all too familiar.

It was Cato.

But…I'm stuck with Cato?

Where's Peeta?

"Peeta…." I said again, a little louder this time.

"Peeta!" I gave out a small shout, only to be given a groan of annoyance by Cato. I sighed, and realized that I should stop calling for Peeta. He isn't here. I just sound like a little lost child calling for their mother.

I slowly began to crawl forwards, trying to figure out my surroundings. I didn't have my bow and arrow, but I might have fallen with my backpack.

I touched my temple and found something wet against it. Most likely blood. That's why I had such a headache.

As I began to crawl forward the sound of moans got louder and closer.

"C-Cato…?" I whispered, calling his name this time.

My reply was silence.

Well of course, Cato can hardly talk. Why even bother to call his name?

I accidently stumbled forward as my legs hit something that was made out of fabric.

Fabric…

I instantly lunged forward and touched the object, as I felt around it I discovered it was my backpack. Madness came over me as I desperately tried to open it, I could barely see anything, so I couldn't find the opening.

I tried shaking the bag, and as I heard the "kling" of objects hitting the ground, I tried to move my hand to search around for the lighter.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I touched something cold and metal. I lifted it up to my face and tried to see if it was the lighter. I heard something flick and tried to flick it once again. My hands were shaking from the cold, and when fire spurt out, I slightly burned my finger.

I sharply inhaled, and sucked on my finger.

Once more, I tried to flick it again, this time having my fingers avoid the fire. I smiled as the bright fire stayed, lightly dimming up the area.

Maneuvering my way around the cave with my lighter, I stared at my surroundings. Once the moans started up again, I followed them.

As I approached the moans, what came before me was a nightmare that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

Cato's bloody face.

His face was severely scared and bloodied. One of his eyes were closed, while the other was open, like it was about to fall off. One of his ears were deeply severed, and I couldn't see his nice tan skin color anymore. All I saw was red, from his blood. I couldn't muster up the courage to face the lighter towards his body. I felt like I was in a horror movie.

I began to hyperventilate as I crawled backwards, finally falling over my backpack and landing on the side I woke up on.

I leaned my back against the wall and pressed my knees together. I let my face fall on my knees, and I began to cry.

I want to go home….

I want to see Gale, Prim, my mother, and Peeta…

I let out another wave of silent sobs, and allowed myself to slowly fall into a deep sleep.

* * *

><p>I woke up to face the cold, and something wet. I jerked myself completely awake and touched the floor I was sleeping on. It was blood. I frantically searched my body to see if I was bleeding anywhere. But I figured out it wasn't my blood, it was Cato's.<p>

I tried to listen closely, to see if he would start moaning again. But all that came was silence.

What if he's dead?

"Cato?" I silently called, surprised by my innocent and frightened tone of voice.

I slowly moved forward, forcing myself to see that face again. I flicked my lighter on and shivered uncontrollably as I tried to find my way towards Cato.

When I saw his face again, I felt a wave of nausea come up. However, I forced myself to be strong and face it.

I pressed my hand against his face and I instantly gasped. His face was freezing.

To my surprise, Cato jerked his face away from my hand, and let out a loud moan.

"I'm sorry…" I sheepishly replied, realizing that I probably hurt him by touching him.

It was amazing. When I first saw him in the Games, he was a ruthless cold-blooded killer who killed anyone, even his allies, if they messed up his plans. Now, he's just scared, hurt, and cold. Like me.

I let the lighter sit beside us as I reached for my backpack. I managed to pull up some bandages that I could wrap around his protruded eye. I just couldn't stand to look at it.

But, as soon as I began to wrap the bandage around his face, he began to scream. He managed the strength to raise his arm and grab onto my shirt. I knew he probably wanted to kill me.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" I yelped again, surprised by the way he latched onto my shirt. "I'm not going to hurt you…It's just me…" I tried to calm him down.

Cato stopped screaming, but he still let out moans and groans. "C-l..ov…e.." He weakly croaked.

I could barely hear it, but I knew he was trying to say Clove.

I didn't know what to say, so I just sat there in silence, watching as he began to fall into a state of unconsciousness again.

I finished wrapping the bandage around his eye, which proved to be much easier when he was passed out.

I let out a shiver once again, and I knew I had to start a fire or we were going to both freeze to death.

I moved around the cave to try to find some rocks or even sticks I could use for the fire. I looked around, but all I could see were little crumbs and bits of rock. Too small.

I moved a little ways from where Cato was, but luckily, I discovered a pile of rocks sitting on the floor. Probably from when we fell, some of the rocks got trapped inside.

I picked them all up and rolled them over near Cato and my backpack, careful not to have any of the rocks hit him. I gathered the rocks in a pile and grabbed hold of my lighter, trying to see if it would work on the rocks.

Sure enough the fire started, a beautiful sight to see. I grabbed some more rocks and gathered them near the fire to even it.

I sighed at the warmth and the bright dim of the area, much more than the lighter.

We were going to survive….For a while, at least.


	3. Sweet Memories

**Cato's POV**

Did I just fall…? Or am I dead? No, I can't be dead. Because I still hear the District 12 tribute, Katniss, calling for her stupid little precious Peeta.

Shut up.

Why won't she shut up?

I let out an annoyed groan, and she stops. I feel myself drifting in and out of consciousness as I moan and whither in pain. I just want it to go away. Why doesn't Katniss just kill me?

I hear her calling someone else's name now. She's calling my name. Why is she calling my name? I don't get it.

I remain silent, and slowly begin to pass out again. I think about my family, I think about my little sister…Does she think I'm dead? Probably does. For her sake, I hope she didn't watch me be half eaten by the mutts.

And Clove…..

I croak out her name. But I know she won't answer. No, she's dead, remember?

* * *

><p><strong>Katniss POV<strong>

I hear Cato's agonizing moans. I hate hearing them. It makes me want to cry and just fall asleep. But I can't. I can't just ignore him. But what can I do?

I bite my lip. What can I do to make it better?

He coughs out blood, and continues to groan even louder.

I reach out and softly hold his hand, and he surprisingly doesn't jerk away. "Why did they do this to you…?" I whispered, partially to myself.

I know of a way to make him better. Only one way. I can just end it. He'd probably want that. I can just put my hands over his mouth and slowly suffocate him, a painless, peaceful death.

But I can't do that. I just can't. I curse myself for being so weak, but I just don't want to kill anyone anymore.

I gently stroke his hand, which quiets his moans.

* * *

><p><strong>Cato's POV<strong>

My whole body feels like it's been lit on fire. I try to fall back into my unconsciousness state again, which takes me away from the pain and misery.

_"Cato!" One of my friends yell, which causes me to look up from where I was relaxing. "So I heard you were gonna volunteer this year, is that true?"_

_"Obviously." I smirk. "I'm tired of all the snot-nosed twelve year old brats that get reaped for our district. That, and my dad would kick my ass if I didn't volunteer."_

_They laugh until the look up at me with a mischievous grin._

_"Dude, did you know that Clove Hathaway is volunteering this year too?" Kane told me._

_Kane was one of my good friends. Seemingly, we always got into a lot of shit together, making my father upset because some of the shit we did left a big impact on his taxes. But like I give a crap, we're rich anyway._

_I raised my eyebrow. "She is? Really, we'll I'll be damned. We'll see how tough little Miss Daddy's princess really is once she's in the Games."_

_The others laughed while Kane was just laughing uncontrollably, rolling on the floor. I rolled my eyes. He's probably high. Leave it to Kane to get high while I volunteer for the Games. And without me…_

_One thing I knew about Clove Hathaway was that she was filthy rich. Probably as rich as I was. We were both known to be one of the richest families in our District. She would always ask her Dad for money, and obviously he would give it to her._

_"Cato! The reapings are starting!" My younger sister, June, called me. June was probably the only one in my family I could tolerate. Me and her, we're really close. She's only fourteen, so I usually have to take her to the reapings._

_I nod at her, and begin to stand up from my relaxing spot. As soon as I begin to walk towards her, my friends instantly follow me._

_"Come on June-bug, up you go." I picked her up and slung her over my shoulder with ease._

_She gave a slight yelp and scrunched up her nose at the sound of me calling her "June-bug." As soon as I let her down when we got to the fourteen-year-old section, she embraced me. "Cato, are you really going to volunteer?" She asked me, feeling nervous._

_I bent down to her level and playfully messed up her hair. "Hey. Why the sad face? You don't honestly think I'm gonna lose do you? Those idiots don't stand a chance against me, especially those rats from the poorer districts."_

_She gave me a light smile back, something that I love to see._

_I walked back to my section, and my friends gave me several pats on the back. "Ladies and Gentlemen!" We all look up._

_"Welcome, Welcome. The time has come to select one young courageous man and woman for the honor of representing District 2 in the 74th Annual Hunger Games!"_

_"Our male tribute for this years' Games will be…. Sc" Before they even have time to finish, I raise my hand and shout "I volunteer!"_

_Basically, all my friends jump at me and instantly hug me or pat my back. Kane gives off a loud chant that you could hear throughout the age sections._

_"And what's your name young man?" The escort for our district asks me._

_"Cato Blake." I answer._

_I can hear the crowd wildly cheering, and I can see my parents in the background. My mom has a huge grin, and my dad has his usual serious expression, but I know he's gleaming with pride on the inside._

_"And our female tribute will be….Molly Simmons!" The escort calls out, and I can see a young girl walk out of the fifteen-year-old section._

_"I volunteer!" A voice shouts from the sixteen-year-old-section. The voice comes from none other than Clove Hathaway._

_"Clove!" I can hear her mother, insisting. While her father just beams with pride. "That's my girl!" He shouts._

_"And what's your name?" The escort asks._

_"Clove Hathaway." She replies, and stares at me with that devilish smirk of hers._

_I merely glare._

_"Now that's our tributes for this years' Games everyone! Give them a supporting round of applause!"_

_Everyone bursts out in cheers again._

_"Cato.." I hear a pleasing voice behind me, and when I turn around I find my mother and Clove's mother come towards me._

_"Cato, please promise me you'll protect Clove. I know how she is. She's arrogant. She thinks she can beat anyone. But you, I've seen you train. I know what your capable of. So please.." Her mother begged. I looked at my mother, who just merely nodded at me._

_"Alright." I sighed._

I feel myself drifting out of unconsciousness again, so I squeeze my eyes shut and try to fall back into my unconscious dream world state again. The pain is just too much…

_"That bitch got an eleven on her training score?" I scowled, my gaze incredulously focusing on the eleven on the score board._

_"Calm down, Cato. Maybe it was just a mistake." Clove insisted._

_I furiously whipped my head around to face her, Marvel and Glimmer nervously backing off. They know not to be around me when I'm pissed. "A mistake? How was that a mistake, Clove? Tell me how someone can score a damn eleven on accident!"_

_Clove just stared in silence._

_"I'm going to murder those two…her and her little District partner…" I turned back around and began to storm off. "Girl on fire, my ass."_

_At this, Marvel let out a slight chuckle._

_That night, Clove entered my room. I was about to get off from the bed but instead she just crawled next to me._

_"Cato.." She began, but I cut her off._

_"I'm sorry. For what happened. I shouldn't of yelled at you." I softly replied._

_She shook her head. "No, I get it. You were mad. I'm mad too, Cato. Don't forget that. I want that Fire Girl dead as much as you do. I can't wait until the Games start so I can chop her pretty face off."_

_I slowly begin to stroke Clove's hair, and as soon as I do, she snuggles closer to me. "I promise I'll protect you. I promise that you and me are gonna win. Who cares if she got an eleven? She's still a weakling, like all the other tributes. They don't stand a chance against the two of us."_

_"I know." Clove lets out a sincere smile, as she begins to close her eyes and fall asleep next to me._

But I didn't protect her…

I let her die in my arms.

I tried to get to her in time, but that beast Thresh got to her first. Luckily I gave him the most brutal death possible.

But it still doesn't change anything….

She's still dead.

I begin to vigorously cough out blood, and moan out in pain.

What are you waiting for Fire Girl? Why won't she end me? I'm just a monster, after all.

I can feel someone hold my hand, and it somehow instantly soothes my pain. I don't let go. Is that Clove holding my hand in my dreams….? Or is Katniss holding my hand?

I stop moaning and merely sigh in defeat. I realize Katniss isn't going to kill me. I just have to somehow manage to handle the pain, or let nature simply kill me.

You win this time, Fire Girl…

You win

* * *

><p>Please review! I hope you guys like it so far! :) Oh and just so you know,<p>

Anything in italics means something that happened in the past. Normal lettering means the present.


	4. Dazed

**Katniss POV**

I silently wake up as I notice the fire's flames slowly going out. I lift my head up from the icy cold floor and realize I'm still holding Cato's hand. He's breathing. Just barely. So I know he's still alive. I gently let go of his hand and touch my head. I can feel my hair out of place, and my braid nearly falling off. I can just picture myself right now if I looked at a mirror, and I'd probably be unrecognizable.

I lick my chapped lips and try to swallow my saliva to get some liquid into my system. I'm so thirsty…

My blue eyes avert around the cave to see if there's water anywhere. But of course there isn't. I'm going to die here with Cato, I think to myself. My weak self just merely crawls into a ball and I shut my eyes.

Peeta…I wonder how he's doing? The Gamemakers probably announced both me and Cato dead. Or are they trying to get to us from the rubble we fell into up above? Probably not. I'm sorry Prim…I'm sorry Gale…I couldn't survive. Gale….if you can magically somehow read my thoughts from far away, which I'm guessing not, please…promise me you'll take care of my mom and Prim. And tell them I love them. Don't let them mourn my death, they have to keep going on.

I try to crawl away from my spot near the fire and wander blindly off towards one of the cave walls. I press my hands up against it and try to push against it, hoping that it'll fall. I try this for what seems like hours on ever single cave wall, but not one of them even budges.

I sigh, and helplessly lean against one of the walls. I press my hot forehead against the cold surface of the wall, and instantly feel relief. I probably have a fever from all the trauma and the freezing cold.

"Deep in the meadow, under the willow…" I softly sing, the song I sang to Rue as she died. "A bed of grass, a soft green pillow. Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes. And when they open, the sun will rise…"

I continued to hum the rest of the song while I crawl into a ball, slowly becoming nothing. I can feel the air getting slimmer every minute I spend in this stupid cave. I start to feel sorry for the ones that have to deal with Claustrophobia.

I begin to drift off into sleep again, the only thing I can do, really. I hate being so weak. I wish I could find out a way to get out of this cave.

I hear someone screaming, which jerks me out of my slumber.

Cato!

My eyes open and I instantly run towards Cato. He continues to moan and scream, his whole body thrashing around.

I grab onto his hand and try to soothe him in the best way possible. "Cato…Oh Cato, look at me. Look at me." I try to gently lift his face towards mine without hurting him. He groans in response and tries to keep himself from thrashing around. His one un-bandaged eye slightly opens and looks up at mine. I can hear him gasping for breath, his thrashing around probably wearing him out.

I stroke his hand again, and watch as his head restlessly falls to one side. His moans quiet down, and I feel myself breathe a sigh of relief. I hate seeing anyone in this state, even Cato. I close my eyes and continue to tiredly stroke his hand, figuring that it would be best not to leave his side.

However, my sleep is again interrupted by vicious growling. I pay no attention to it, though. I'm probably just hallucinating from the dehydration. The mutts snarls and growls still play in my mind from when we were back in the Arena. How can they possibly be in the cave anyway? They were crushed by the falling rubble when me and Cato both fell.

I close my eyes again, laying my head down on my knees. The growls won't go away. But I try my best to ignore them. I sigh and try to count sheep. A common method for sleep that unusually doesn't work for me. It works for Prim though. I count sheep and stroke her hair every night she went to sleep from the day she was eight. I taught Gale this, which seemed to be particularly useful for him with his brothers.

One sheep.

Two sheep.

Three sheep.

The growls grow closer and more realistic now, but I fight not become a victim of the hallucinations.

Four sheep.

Five sheep.

The growling almost seems to be coming from a few inches away from my face now, which causes me to shiver. I slowly open my eyes and focus them towards the ground. As soon as I believe there's nothing there, my body freezes as I see one single drop of drool drop down onto the floor near me and Cato.

No way…..

I gape at the floor in awe and slowly begin to lift my head up. The sight that comes before me is horrendous.

A mutt is staring at me, with it's bulging vicious brown eyes. It's teeth are bared and it's ears are back in an aggressive position. The mutt's white teeth almost seem to be wildly grinning at me, and I can see blood fall from it's night black fur.

I gasp and shut my eyes, hoping that the hallucination would go away. It's just a hallucination….

It's just a nightmare….

When I open my eyes, it'll be gone…

I open my eyes and my blue eyes avert back to the creature. As soon as it lunges at me, I scream. It bites me on the arm and draws a heavy amount of blood from it. I instantly crawl away from the creature, holding my bleeding arm in pain.

It's not a hallucination.

But how did it survive? I stare in horror as I'm faced with even more mutts, their gleaming eyes staring at mine with hatred and blood lust. The one that bit my arm snaps at me again but I smack it on the nose and roll away from it. The mutt yelps, but not before more mutts surround me and Cato.

I grab Cato, and muster up the strength to drag him off to the other corner of the cave with my good arm. I am silently thankful that he's passed out and not conscious, or else it would be even harder to drag him.

Carrying a fully-grown muscled 18 year old is not an easy task for a small 16 year old girl like me.

I manage to drag the both of us in the other corner of the cave, which proved to be un-useful became now, we're trapped in the corner like mice, waiting for the mutts to devour us. As one of them lunges at us, I throw my bag at it, which seemed to be a good idea at first until I realize all my necessities are in there.

"Kill." One of them growls, which completely baffles me.

Several of them start lunging at me, and while I scream, the cave wall gives off and I'm sent tumbling out of the cave. I bounce on rocks and grass as I rapidly roll off a hill. As I land, I hit my head against the hard grassy floor, which leaves me dazed. I open my eyes and see the world spinning around me. I also hear yelps and growling of the mutts, as well as gunshots and weapons being thrown.

"Huh…?" I let out a tiny croak as figures begin to surround me and stare at me with curiosity. One of them touches my face, but I protest by vigorously shaking my head and shutting my eyes.

"Don't move." A hear a voice say.

I blink and suddenly feel myself blacking out as the figures begin to get farther and farther away. The only thing I can make out in the darkness is a small medallion representing a district I'd never seen before, hanging from one of the figures' necks.


	5. The Secret District

**Katniss POV**

I let out a tiny groan as my eyes began to flutter open. "Hmm….where….am I?" I silently asked, while I allowed my vision to turn into it's normal state. My whole body aches, and my stomach feels like crap. Luckily, I don't feel thirsty anymore, though.

"Don't get up, you need rest." A voice calmly told me, as I shifted my head back and forth to see what was going on.

"Who are you…?" I mumbled, and silently watch as the blurry figure I was staring at slowly began to form into a person.

"It's alright, I'm the nurse. You safe here." The lady replied, whom I know could see clearly.

"Am I in District 12?" I blinked, and anxiously lifted my head to see if I could see anyone I recognized. "Is Gale here? Is Peeta okay?" I frantically asked the lady. Although, the lady did seem unfamiliar, and I think I would've recognized most of the nurses in District 12. Like my mother, for example.

"Honey, you're not in District 12." The lady replied in a very sing-song voice, like she was talking to a child.

"I'm in District 2!" I shouted, or rather, croaked out. Gosh, they obviously cared to take Cato home first rather than me, didn't they? Where was Cato anyway?

"No, you're in District 13." The lady replied in a more serious tone this time, which had me slightly on edge.

"District 13 doesn't exist." I blinked at her, making my tone sound very matter-of-factly. "It was destroyed by the Capitol in the Dark Ages."

"Hmm…it seems someone knows their history." Another voice replied from the other side of the room that I couldn't quite make out, but I was sure it was the same voice that told me not to move while saving me from the pack of mutts.

"Where am I?" I spoke out loud, slightly frustrated by the way they were giving me answers. That, and I'm probably not exactly in the happiest mood since they have me connected to wires and needles.

A young man, I'm guessing in his early 20s, appeared into the room from a door that lead to the other side. He had light brown skin and black hair tied up into a ponytail, a style that kind of reminded me of a vagabond. Like a pirate.

"Well believe it or not, princess. You're in District 13." He stated, gazing upon me with his green eyes. In a sense, it kind of made me feel vulnerable.

I slyly rolled my eyes at his little "princess" comment. Of course, first it was Haymitch who called me "sweetheart," and now it's this guy calling me "princess." I absolutely hate those petty names.

"Where's Cato?" I asked, feeling that I should bring him up.

"Your friend was ripped up pretty badly when we first saw him, he's in intensive care now. He should be fine, but I'm not making any promises." The vagabond replied.

"He's not exactly my friend…" I silently gazed down at the tile floor, something I thought I'd never see again. "He's actually sort of my enemy. Well, was."

The vagabond raised his eyebrow. "Where did you guys come from? Seeing his conditions, I'm probably guessing some place not that nice."

"The annual Hunger Games, you should know about them. Well, maybe not your district, but every other district certainly does." I sigh, and instantly when I speak of the Hunger Games, everyone in the room freezes, some nurses even gasp.

"I thought so." The vagabond narrowed his eyes, gesturing for some of the guards to follow him out of the room.

"What's wrong?" I quickly ask, until one of the nurses shushes me. I look up at them. "What happened?

The nurse begins to take out some of the needles out of my arm readjust some of the wiring. "Nothing, dear. Ebon's the head guard of our District, so naturally, he's going to investigate every little detail that someone explains to him. Like Boggs.

"Who's Boggs?" I ask.

"Boggs is our President's right hand man. However, unlike Boggs, Ebon usually does his own thing, which slightly angers President Coin." The nurse gives off a small giggle, one that reminds me of my mother in a way.

I avert my gaze back to the bed. "Then why were you guys so shocked to see me come from The Hunger Games?"

The nurse frowned. "We just don't agree with the Games, that's all. Would you like a cup of water, dear?" She quickly changes the subject.

"No thanks, and call me Katniss." I answer, slightly disappointed by the change of subject.

"Alright Katniss." She smiles, "Call me if you need anything, TV's up there if you'd like." She proceeds to walk out of the room.

I slowly touch my hair and realize it's out of it's braid, and is now flowing freely down my shoulders. I touched the tip of my hair and wonder if it got longer. It's been so long since I've been back at home, so maybe it did.

I softly lay my head down against the cushiony pillows and slowly begin to drift off. I curse my drowsiness, since I have the overwhelming urge to get up and explore the District thought to be destroyed. I wonder how it survived? I knew President Snow was keeping secrets from us…

I glance up at the TV as the Hunger Games are announced. My drowsiness fading away with curiosity, I move too quickly to sit up on the bed, which causes me to feel dizzy. However, I ignore it as I see Peeta with Caesar, who is currently interviewing him. My hand darts for the remote and I turn the volume up more high.

As soon as I can make out Caesar's loud and clear voice, I lay my pounding head back against the pillows.

"So Peeta, how is it like to be the winner of the 74th Hunger Games?" Caesar asks him, his bright smile warming up the audience and stage.

Peeta looks seemingly depressed as he answers. "Whatever, I guess. Me and Katniss were supposed to win…"

Caesar's bright smile instantly drops. "Yes…Yes, we know how much you loved Katniss. The infamous star-crossed lovers will not be forgotten, that's for sure."

"I loved that girl. I don't see any need for me to go back to my home District. Without her…it'll be empty." Peeta's gaze dropped to the floor.

"Peeta, people have to move on. No matter if they lose someone they love, they can't let themselves become nothing. Katniss would've wanted you to be happy." Caesar sighed, earning some well respected nods from the audience.

"Yeah.." Peeta merely said, but I knew he was still furious considering the way he was clenching his fists.

Caesar continued to talk, but by then I already turned off the TV and practically jumped of the bed. Some nurses tried to say something, but I merely ignore them and pursued my way out of the room. I glanced in all types of directions, looking for who knows what, but I was determined to leave.

"Katniss." The nurse that took care of me appeared, her body in my way to block me if I tried to escape. "Anything wrong?"

"I have to leave. I have to go back!" I frantically began, sweat pouring off my temple.

"You have to leave…? Where?" The nurse smiled and gently grabbed my arm in an attempt to drag me back into my room.

I shook her off my arm. "My district! Peeta's a wreck! Prim needs me! My mom needs me! Please…." I begged.

She frowned. "Katniss, you can't go anywhere in the condition you're in right now. I'm sorry. But whoever needs you they'll have to wait.

"You don't understand!" I shouted at her, which earned a few glances at me from the nurses.

"Katniss, calm down. I do understand. But right now…." She gently, but forcefully nudged me towards the room. "You just have to relax and be patient."

I furiously sighed and dragged myself toward the bed.

She took the remote from my bed and stuffed it inside her pocket. "I think it's best right now that you not watch TV. Wouldn't want you to get riled up again. No get some rest, please." If anyone could say that in a fierce way but sound so gentle at the same time, it's her.

I sat on the bed and painfully shut my eyes.

I'm sorry Peeta….

Just wait a little longer. I promise, I'm coming back.

* * *

><p>I hope you like it! :) I added a few new characters to the story, as you can see. Please review! I LOVE reviews! Thanks!<p> 


	6. The Dome

**Katniss POV**

As soon as the light from the room pored inside, I blinked my eyes open, giving out a slight yawn. The emptiness of the room was soon replaced by the nurse's beaming face smiling at me.

"Good morning, Katniss. Sleep well?" She replied in her usual sing-song voice again.

"Yeah, I guess. How long was I asleep?" I focused my gaze around the room as I sat up from the bed.

"I would say about two days, at least."

My mouth dropped open with incredulous awe. "Two days? Oh gosh…"

The nurse opened the blinds of the window, and surprisingly, no light came out. That gave me suspicions that we might be living underground. I hope not…after being stuck in a cave for god knows how many days, the last thing I want is to be closed in again.

"Well, Katniss. That's normal for someone who's been through a lot such as you, I'm surprised you didn't sleep more." The nurse replied.

I focused my gaze up at the white ceiling, and decided that I should probably get out of bed and discover more about District 13. "Am I allowed to get out of bed, now?" I asked.

"Yes. But you can only stay around this area. Until the time comes, when we can persuade the President to make some amends into letting you go back to your District…I'm afraid you're stuck here for the time being." The nurse said, in a very strange matter that I thought maybe there wasn't a whole lot of truth to what she was saying. Obviously, she knows more than I do.

I merely nodded. No point in arguing now.

"Wait for a few minutes. I'll send an escort to show you around." The nurse walked out of the florescent room, which now smelled like flowers.

An escort? I silently groan. I kind of wanted to show myself around the District. An escort just means I'll have someone watching me the entire time. That's probably what they want anyway. To keep me prisoner here.

I softly begin to maneuver myself off the bed, my muscles screaming in objection as I move them. It's probably because I've been in bed for nearly three days. I slowly stretch them, and when I do, I instantly feel relief.

I walk out of the room, and discover a table full of cookies, donuts, pancakes, and orange juice. I blink at the table, wondering if I've ever seen so much food in my life.

"Katniss, dear. Take anything you'd like." The nurse smiled at me from the phone, which I assumed she would probably be calling the escort.

"Thank you, miss…."

"Miss White." She answered.

"Miss White." I smiled at her. I realized that by now I should know her name, since she's been so nice to me and all.

I silently took a cookie from one of the plates, and savored the taste as I took a bit from it. I haven't had any sweets in a long while, and the cookie definitely satisfied me. I took a few other cookies and ate them, my stomach going on a hunger rage because of my being asleep for two days. I poured myself a glass of orange juice and drank it, as I watched the nurses walk across the room, inside and out. Their job must be hectic.

"The escort will be here in a few minutes, dear. I hope you don't mind waiting." Miss White called from inside the other room across from me.

"No, I don't mind." I called back. With regret, I gazed down at the clothes I was wearing, and discovered it was only a white hospital gown.

"Miss White, do you know where my clothes are?" I asked her, deciding I shouldn't wear my hospital gown outside.

"Oh! I completely forgot! Katniss, I threw your old clothes away because they were very dirty and ripped. I figured you wouldn't want them anymore. So, I left you some new clothes for you in the restroom. I hope you don't mind…"

I put my glass of orange juice down and began to walk over into the other room, where Miss White was. "It's okay. Where's the restroom?"

"In the room you were just in, but at the right." She answered back, but her eyes were focused on a stack of papers she had on her desk.

"Ok." I turned around, and began to head back into the room I was currently inside. I turned the corner and opened the door that lead me into the restroom. I rolled my eyes with annoyance. So many hallways, and doors, and rooms, and more rooms. It's never like this back in District 12. Which makes me miss it even more. I silently hope that I don't have to live here anytime soon.

I close and lock the door before glancing up at my surroundings. The restroom was rather fancy, white walls, white sink, and a colorful fabric of towels cascading down the shower. I grab the set of clothes that was left for me by the sink, and quickly unwrap them. A white sleeved long shirt and brown shorts. I merely sighed as I stared at the brown shorts. I don't really wear shorts all that much, not a very big fan of them. Maybe since I was always out in the woods hunting with Gale. I glance back down at the sink and discover that they even left me a white bra and white panties. How wonderful.

I quickly begin to change my clothing as I hear rustling of movement outside of the restroom. That might be the escort…and I think it's probably best that I not keep anyone waiting. As soon as I'm changed, I look at myself from the mirror and tie my hair back into a braid with a hair tie that was also left nearby the sink. It's almost a habit now that I wear my hair in a braid.

I walk outside of the room and immediately see Miss White, along with another group of nurses, and a boy that looks about my age holding a huge pile of bags.

Miss White turns and smiles at me. "Oh Katniss, this is the escort I was talking about." She gestures her hand towards the boy holding the bags.

He instantly drops the bags, having them land not so carefully on the floor, and reaches out his hand towards me. "Oh sorry, hey, I'm Mason. I'm your escort." He smiled at me.

My eyes avert to his face before I shake his hand. He has light brown hair and green eyes, and he's quite good-looking, I admit. But not as gorgeous as Gale, or Peeta, ….or even Cato…..What? Did I just think that?

I quickly push girlish thoughts aside to give him a sweet smile. "Hi, I'm Katniss. It's nice to meet you."

"No, no, I know you. I saw you on TV, on the Hunger Games. Even though most people around here don't watch them." His gaze began to drift off towards the floor, but quickly averted their way back to mine. "Hey, so where do you want to go first? I'm off from school today, so we can go anywhere you want."

I blink at him. By the way he acts, I suddenly realize he must have a short-attention span. "We can go anywhere. It doesn't really matter."

He waves to the nurses, who wave back with a smile. "I'm just going to leave the stuff here, okay?" He asks, gesturing towards the pile of bags he left on the floor.

"Yes, thank you very much, Mason." Miss White warmly smiles. "Behave yourselves now. Don't stay too late, remember?"

"I know." Mason gestures for me to follow.

"Bye, Miss White." I give a slight wave, and continue to follow Mason outside of the hospital wing.

"Before I start showing you around, I'm going to restate some rules that all the citizens of District 13 have to strictly follow. When it starts getting dark, we have to head back inside. No exceptions. Wouldn't want us to get caught by the guards, especially Ebon or Boggs. Those guys scare me. Oh, and I don't think we can go outside of the District today, if you were hoping for a little fresh air, sorry." He explained.

"It's okay." I pretended like it was no big deal, but really I was dying to get outside. A little fresh air wouldn't hurt. By the sound of these rules, it sounds like District 13 is really strict, which puts me a little on edge. What's their president like?

"So hey, but we can still go visit a lot of places. One of my favorites is the Dome."

"The Dome?" I raise my eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'll tell you about it when we get there. But first, let's go visit the shops." Mason continued, and as we walked through the hallway that led out of the Hospital Wing, I froze in complete awe when we walked out of the darkness of the hallway and finally into what is called "District 13."

So this is District 13…..

"Oh…My…God…" I breathed, barely noticing as Mason grinned at me.

All around us were factories and smoke rising from the bottom and reaching above the cave. I could barely hear all the people chatting and walking by, as I heard fire being put out or being started by the forges. I almost could hear some sort of music as I heard the "clinging" of metal objects, and steel being made through the forges.

Mason slightly nudged me towards him, so I would keep moving and follow him. My gaze curiously went up to the ceiling where I saw mechanical workers building new houses, or buildings, and objects being lifted off the ground with these strange automobile trucks. I admit, District 13 is pretty impressive, but it also looks dusty and dirty because of all the steel parts on the floor we were walking on, that looked some kind of a black concrete.

"Over there's the school." Mason pointed.

I looked over and saw a building, probably one of the taller ones, including school kids pouring in and out of the building. I heard a bell, but it sounded unnatural and techno like. It's probably their school bell.

"School's out." I heard Mason murmur, which made me turn and look at him.

"We should get going. It's always hectic around here when school's out." He nudged me forward again, but not before staring at a group of kids about our age who were sitting near the walls of the school.

I stared with him, but the kids mostly had their eyes focused at me in a curious manner. One of the girls had red hair, and every time you would stare at me, she would whisper something to her friends, earning a nod from them.

"You know her?" I ask Mason, but he quickly averts his gaze away from the group of kids and the red-head.

"Yeah, she's one of the more popular girls at my school. She has wicked training skills too. They were talking about you, they were looking forward to see you. And the other one that came in with you. Where is he, by the way?"

I bite my lip. "He's in intensive care right now."

Mason frowned. "Oh."

"Come on. Where's those shops you wanted to show me?" I instantly ask, wanting to stray away from the subject about Cato.

He smiled. " Over here. Follow me." He climbed up some ledges and stones that led up a small steel hill, which I'm guessing, was in the process of re-building.

I took his hand as he led me down the hill, and into a channel market of small buildings that led into different kind of shops.

"Luckily a lot of people aren't here. Usually this place is packed." He explained, and gestured his hand towards one of the smaller shops will tools and steel pieces inside. "That's the mechanical shop. Where you fix things. I work there, sometimes."

"What's that shop?" I gazed at one of the more bigger shops, that had almost like toy rockets revolving around the store, and fountain of water all stacked in the middle of it.

"That's the toy shop. It also sells candy too." Mason let out a small chuckle. "Yeah, that shop is my favorite too. It's special for the kids, since all of them come here from time to time."

"Come on. I have to show you the Dome!" He beamed with excitement, and grabbed my hand, which surprisingly, didn't bother me at the time.

"I guess the Dome's pretty amazing, huh?" I gave out a small smile at seeing his excitement. It kind of reminded me of Prim in a way…always got excited at everything. Prim….I wonder how she's doing….?

"Look." He let go of my hand to point at some sort of arena.

I crouched down and looked over the edge, which formed some giant hole in the ground. The hole was massive, almost about half the size of the arena in the Hunger Games. There was also benches surrounding the stadium, it almost looked like it was some type of sport or event.

"What is this…?" I silently asked.

"It's where we hold our special type of Games. We don't follow the national Hunger Games, so instead, we hold our Games. But, instead of 24 people fighting each other, it's only two. The person who wins gets luxury and freedom.

"What about the person who loses..?" I narrow my eyes, trying to take in the sight of the whole arena.

"Uh, they usually die. It's kind of a fight to the death kind of thing."

"So basically, it's like the Games." I shrug. The feeling of this Dome makes me on edge about their President. Obviously, he or she doesn't completely disagree with people killing each other to win luxury.

"Well yeah, sort of. But not really." Mason blinked. "Sometimes people are picked to fight, but rarely. It's usually because they want to fight. But you'll never guess how big the arena is. It took forever to build it."

"How big is it..?" I ask, but just to keep him entertained. This Arena seems like it's just as bad as the Games. They're both sadistic and ruthless.

"It's at least about 130 yards long. Can you believe it? It kind of takes up the space of our District, pretty much." Mason grins.

I let out a small whistle. "130 yards..? Gosh…"

"Yeah…and-" Mason begins, but gets cut off by a voice behind us.

"What are you kids doing here…?" The voice says, and we both turn around.

It's Ebon.

Mason panics. "Um..! Ebon, sir. I was just escorting her." He gestures towards me.

"Well, so what does the "Princess" think of our District?" Ebon continues, while giving us a stern glare.

"She thinks it's-" Mason begins, but I quickly cut him off.

"My name's Katniss." I state, while crossing my arms and having my eyes focus on Ebon with slight distaste.

"Katniss, eh?"

I nod.

Mason nervously stares at the both of us. He's probably in awe about the way I spoke to Ebon, but who cares?

"Well Katniss, I didn't come here to chit-chat. I came to tell you that your friend, ex-enemy, whatever, he's awake."

I freeze and stare at Ebon, like I didn't understand him.

Cato's awake….?

* * *

><p>Oooo total cliffhanger right there. Haha. Well, I hope you guys liked it and please review! As you can see, I added some differences to District 13, like the Dome. I figured it would be really interesting and cool. Believe me, this isn't that last you've seen of it. :) This chapter's a little longer than the others, so I hope you enjoyed!<p> 


	7. Screams and Cuddles

**Cato's POV**

I open my eyes, and urge myself to keep from crying out in pain. The pain seems like it hurts worse now, since the cold from the cave would usually numb it. But at least I can open my damn eyes. I hated being a weak little pawn in the cave, having Katniss constantly cradle me like a stupid child.

Where am I, anyway?

I try to hold back a row of curses that so desperately want to spill out of my mouth right now. I can't lift my head, so instead I merely use my eyes, well one eye, since the other one is covered by bandages, to discover my surroundings. I silently watch as nurses begin to frantically run through the room, including some who would watch me. I must be in a District. But what District…? It's way too fancy to be District 12, but it doesn't look like District 2, either.

"Can you hear me..?" One of the nurses ask me.

I merely blink at her, my eye being blinded by the florescent lights inside the room. "Sort of."

"Don't move. Just relax, alright?" The nurse spoke, turning her head over to the other nurse and whispering something I could barely hear.

"Where am I…?" I ask.

"You're safe, that's all you need to know."

I sigh, and roll my head to the other side of the pillow. They still didn't answer my question….

I avert my gaze towards my body, and when I look down, I instantly regret it. I look like absolute crap. Practically my whole body's covered in bandages, except for the one side of my face and my hair. I look like I had a terrible accident in a fire.

Damn mutts…

"Ebon...!" One of the nurses shout, her face clearly in a state of relief.

This guy, about in his early 20s I'm guessing, comes inside the room. He sort of looks like a vagabond.

"Ebon, I see you heard the news." The nurse explains, her voice slightly gesturing towards me. They probably mean me as the "news."

"Yeah, I did. I brought the girl with me, too." Ebon states, leading Katniss into the room with him.

"You!" I instantly shout, focusing my menacing glare onto hers. "I hope you're a fast runner Firegirl….because when I get out of this hospital bed I'm going to...-"

Ebon cuts me off with a glare. "Calm down..!"

Katniss merely stares at me, her gaze slightly wavering.

"Why didn't you kill me, Firegirl! Why didn't you?" I ignore Ebon, screaming insults at Katniss even more. It's partially her fault I'm this way…I'm going to be crippled because of her….A crippled worthless, weak, nobody.

"I couldn't." Katniss helplessly replied, where I could barely make out what she was saying.

I was going to shout at her again, until this time, a more furious Ebon cut me off.

"Hold him!" He shouted, which made a couple more nurses try to hold me down, besides the ones that were already previously holding me down when I started to scream at Katniss.

"Stop moving, you're only going to make your wounds worse." A nurse fiercely, but gently, told me.

"Katniss, get out of the room." Ebon turns to face her. I could see in her eyes that she's itching to say something, but instead she just nods in agreement and obeys.

I begin to heavily pant and sigh with anger as I gazed up at the ceiling. My whole body was pounding with pain, but I tried to ignore it. I began to relax as the nurses released me from their grasp, turning to stare at Ebon.

"Unless you want to get better, I suggest you calm the fuck down and not have a freak out like that, ever again. Are we clear, kid?" Ebon gives me a stone glare, but I honestly could care less.

"Don't call me kid." I clench my teeth.

"I can call you whatever I want.

This time I stayed quiet, leaning my head back against the pillow, facing away from them. I was too tired to argue with anyone at this point.

"Let's give him some space…" One of the nurses whispered, having other nurses leave the room.

* * *

><p><strong>Katniss POV<strong>

I walked out of the room, feeling sadness and anger at the same time. I look up to see Miss White and Mason sitting in the table, talking to each other.

"Hey, Katniss. How'd it go?" Mason asked me, which made me frown.

"He screamed at me." I merely replied.

Mason's happy grin instantly dropped. "Why?"

Miss White stood from the table to come and embrace me. "Oh….sweetheart, don't feel bad. Maybe he was just in a bad mood, that's all."

I managed to give out a slight giggle, dripping with sarcasm. "I don't care, really."

Miss White led me toward the table and I sat next to her, facing Mason.

"I'm sorry you couldn't show me more places in the District. But, maybe next time." I gazed back at Mason, my frown disappearing into a small smile.

"It's okay. We got plenty of time to show you around, so yeah." Mason gave me a smile back.

However, I carefully watched as his eyes darted towards some kind of writing on his forearm.

"What's that…?" I ask.

"My schedule. I have to go, see you later, Katniss." Mason abruptly stands up from the chair and zooms past me and Miss White to get outside.

"A schedule…?" I softly whisper.

"Yes. Everyone's required to have a schedule printed on their forearm." Miss White replied, like it was no big deal.

"Will I have to get one?" I let out a slight grimace. Just thinking about getting a tattoo printed on my skin sends my nerves on edge. I wonder if it hurts..?

"Eventually, yes." Miss White took a sip of her coffee that was placed on the table.

"Hmm." I stared off into space for a few moments, before Ebon and other nurses came rushing inside.

"Miss White, if you don't mind, I'd like to speak with you." Ebon stated, while giving me a sideways glare that told me to stay put.

"Why yes, Ebon." Miss White led Ebon to another private room, and I silently wondered if they were talking about me or Cato.

As nurses started to walk out, I was left alone at the table. I carefully began to stare at my fingernails, something I rarely do. As an hour passed by, I leaned my head against the char, letting out a passive sigh.

I secretly wondered if I could hear Ebon and Miss White more closely if I pressed my head against the door. I was itching to do it, but my mind was spinning towards the reality of what would be the consequences if I got caught.

I placed my head against the table, thinking it would be no use anyway. The room was probably soundproof, and whatever they were talking about, I would find out sooner or later. I patiently waited as another 20 minutes passed by.

As I heard the creaking sound of a door opening, I curiously lifted up my head to see where it came from. My gaze averted to Miss White and Ebon, and I carefully watched Miss White's face expression. She looked almost nervous, or frightened.

"What's wrong..?" I ask.

"Nothing, Katniss. Just stay here for the time being." Ebon stormed off in the other direction, which led outside. He tended to do that a lot.

"Miss White..?" I turn to face her.

She was hesitant before answering, but nevertheless she smiled. "Nothing, dear. You heard Ebon. I have to get back to my work so I'll see you in a little while." She turned the other way, into another section of the hospital.

I let out a small regretful groan as I placed my head back on the table again. I knew I should've eavesdropped on them when I had the chance. Whatever they were talking about, seeing the look on Miss White's face, I'm guessing it wasn't something good.

As another painful 20 minutes passed by, I hesitantly stood up from the table. I never imagined myself being this bored and curious at the same time. Maybe I should check up on Cato…? I let out a bitter smile. But he hates me, remember?

I walked towards his room and pressed my head against the door. Since when do I care if Cato hates me or not? I hate him, too. Right…?

As I hear nothing but silence come from inside of the room, I slowly open the door. As gazed inside the room, I discovered no nurses. Why did they leave him by himself…? I quietly close the door and step inside, watching the silence of the room and Cato laying motionless on the hospital bed.

"Cato…?" I whispered, almost pleading.

A soft chuckle, mixed with a painful groan emitted from him.

I simply stood where I was, hesitant whether I should get closer or not.

"What are you doing here…?" He softly asked, his voice much weaker than before.

"I came to see how you were doing." I replied back, my gaze averting away from the floor and focusing on his one eye.

"Why would you care, Firegirl?" He merely shrugged, trying to reposition himself on the bed.

"Because I care, Cato! I'm not a cold-hearted killer like you are." I nearly yelled, but instantly retorted to a whispering voice.

He stayed silent, merely letting out a "hmph."

I softly bit my lip, and continued to walk closer to him. As I neared his bandaged face, by instinct, I gently whisked away a strand of his blonde hair that was over his eye. To my surprise, he let me. But his cautious gaze was still focused onto mine.

I carefully sat down on the floor beside his bed, watching some propaganda on the TV above us. He let out a painful sigh again, and I could see he was trying his hardest to fight the pain. I gently took his hand in mine again, the way I used to back in the cave.

He instantly turned to face me, his gaze wavering. "That…was you..?" He silently asked.

"Yeah." I slowly gazed away from him, trying to stare at something else, like the floor or the TV. We both drifted off into silence as I continued to watch the TV. I saw Cinna, but I didn't see Peeta or anyone else I knew, so I figured they weren't on the Hunger Games.

I started to gaze around for the remote until I felt someone softly stroke my hand. I let out a silent gasp as I looked over and discovered that it was Cato stroking my hand, as if to reassure me.

His gaze was locked onto mine, as he stopped stroking my hand. "Let go of my hand….Firegirl." He said almost mockingly, retorting to his normal cold self. I gently let go of his hand and smiled to myself. Cato can actually be nice….when he wants to.

I watched the screen on the TV, and my heart almost dropped as I saw a crying little girl with tears streaming down her pale face.

The little girl was Prim…..

* * *

><p>Merry Christmas, everyone! Hoped you like it, leave me reviews for presents! :)<p> 


	8. The Rebellion

**Prim's POV**

As the camera focused onto me, I couldn't figure out anything to do except cry. My sister's dead. She was about to come home, I really thought she was going to win, but she didn't. "I miss my sister." I managed to choke out, making the cameraman nod his head with respect.

I heard commotion towards the crowd of people, and before I could see what was going on, my mother grabbed me and huddled me close to her. All I saw was the cameramen frantically trying to see what was the commotion about and Gale's furious voice.

I nervously watched as Gale grabbed Peeta like some sort of wild animal, and began to vigorously shake him. "Why didn't you save her! Why? She's dead, because of you!" Gale screamed at him.

I expected Peeta to punch him, or fight back, but all I could see was tears in his eyes. "I tried! I tried to get to her before she fell, but the Gamemakers already came and dragged me away before I could save her. I tried…." He helplessly shouted.

I felt myself being blinded by more tears, trying to fight back as they cascaded down my cheeks like a stream. "Katniss.." I hurtfully whispered. I blocked out the screams, the cries, the furious voices of Gale and Peeta, everything, as I slowly faded away into a world of silence and mourning.

* * *

><p><strong>President Snow's POV<strong>

I furiously sighed as I began to shuffle papers of complaints and requests to save those two tributes from District 2 and 12. District 2 was the worse by far.

"Mr. President, sir." I looked up at my assistant who just seconds ago walked inside the room.

"Yes, what do you want?" I spat, letting out my stress on him.

"District 2 is threatening to rebel against the capitol, and so is District 12, we have to do something before it gets worse."

I thoughtfully stroked my chin. "District 12, we can just destroy if they're being too much of a nuisance. District 2 is a problem, indeed. We can't afford to have them rebel against the Capitol, they're our most trusted alliance out of all the Districts. No District 2 means no weapons. I'll have to suggest a plan sooner or later.

"But sir, what about the tributes who fell through the arena?" He nervously asked.

"What about them?" I merely shrugged, placing papers in files. "They're dead. End of story."

"But the other Districts are having are hard time believing that. Shouldn't we just search for them?" My assistant suggested.

"Well the other Districts are idiots. Why can't they just except the fact that their two tributes are dead? That's what happens in the Games, I don't understand their pouting. We have a final winner, and that winner was the male tribute from District 12. I'll just have to find another way to bargain with District 2. And besides, we can't search for the two tributes because the godforsaken hole they fell through is covered in rubble. We could never make it in there, and I would assume their dead anyway. The rubble could've fell on them and crushed them in an instant." I explained.

"Now, if you would excuse me, I have some business to tend to." I placed my gaze away from my assistant and onto the pile of papers that were laying on my desk.

My assistant got the message, and merely nodded in respect. "Yes, sir. Right away." He turned around and left.

It's impossible that those two tributes could've survived…even if they did, their injuries would've killed them off sooner or later anyways. If they are alive…I wonder where they ended up….I think..I shall ask my friends back in District 13 about this…

I let out a cruel grin.

Once again, I never cease to amaze myself.

* * *

><p><strong>Katniss POV<strong>

I stayed huddled on the floor, with my head against my knees, my hair blocking my face. I had to turn the TV off, it was just too much. First from seeing Prim in pain from the sadness of believing she lost me, and Gale confronting Peeta like he was about to kill him. Why are they all over-reacting…? They should just accept the fact that I'm dead. It's not Peeta's fault….Oh God, Gale..it's not his fault…

I tried to breathe normally, but the tension spreading across my body was just too much. I eventually lifted my head up and gazed at the ceiling.

Ebon entered the room, bewildered by the fact that me and Cato were together. "I have some news." He blinked at the both of us.

I carefully watched him, but Cato merely grunted in annoyance, like he didn't want to hear the news.

"The Districts are angry, especially your districts. District 2 is even threatening to rebel." Ebon patiently explained, his green gaze focusing onto the both of us.

I blinked. "And I thought that District 2 were the Capitol's little pets." I said, which earned me a well-earned glare from Cato.

"Sorry." I mumbled, forgetting that he was from District 2.

"Well if this doesn't stop, they're threatening to destroy District 12." Ebon stared, gesturing towards me this time.

"What!" I nearly shouted. "Why District 12?"

"To show the other Districts how powerful the Capitol can really be. District 12 is a first resort to them, since it's one of the poorer districts."

Cato managed to let out a small laugh, and then it was my turn to glare at him.

"Stop glaring at each other." Ebon furiously stated. "This is serious."

"I know it's serious." I began to sit up from the floor. "It can't happen. It won't happen. I won't let them."

"We're not sure if it's going to happen. It's just a rumor. But we're definitely going to keep our guard down in the meantime." Ebon continued.

"Where are we anyway..?" I heard Cato ask.

"We're in District 13." I explained, like it was nothing.

"Are you shitting me..?" He narrowed his eyes at the both of us. "I thought District 13 was destroyed."

I started to open my mouth in protest, but instead Ebon cut me off.

"No, it wasn't destroyed. But when we started hearing rumors about our existence we made them believe that we were deep under the grounds of Washington D.C. Instead, we live right below the Hunger Games arena. That's why we found you two after you fell."

"Smart. Under the arena would be the last place they would search for District 13." I crossed my arms.

"Exactly." Ebon gave me a small smirk, but it quickly faded away to his usual serious expression. "Katniss, I've been meaning to speak with you, but in private."

"Sure." I gave a sideways glance towards Cato, who merely turned his head away from us. I think he had a feeling that the subject we were going to talk about would be about him.

I followed Ebon out of the room, where we sat down on the table. All the other nurses were busy with their night shift. I could barely believe it was night already, since outside seemed darker than usual. Seeing that they don't have night and day underground, they turn off most of the lights outside when it's nighttime.

"Is he…going to be okay?" I silently asked Ebon, dreading the look on his face when I gazed up at him.

"His body's healing fine, his legs are healing even faster, so I think he's going to be able to walk soon, but not without therapy. His left arm is the real problem, though. I don't think he's ever going to be able to fully use it, we might resort to measures as to just simply amputate it, since the chances of healing it are slim." Ebon gently explained, which surprised me since his voice is usually harsh and serious.

I bit my lip. "No…please don't cut off his arm. He…I know he wouldn't ever be himself again. Life wouldn't be the same for him."

I gave out a slight chuckle, and raised my head towards the ceiling. "I know..I shouldn't care, but…I do."

"Understandable." Ebon have a slight nod. "Even with enemies, you still care about them if they're in pain. You….have a good heart, Katniss."

I let my gaze fall back onto his as I lowered my head. "It's not about me being nice.." I simply whispered.

"Like I said before, the chances of healing his arm is slim. We can try. But it'll be almost impossible to do." Ebon's voice started to fade.

"Then try. What are you thinking of?" I blink at him.

"The nurses and surgeons were suggesting that they could somehow recreate the dead tissue on his left arm and recreate it so it could be stronger, even better than before. We've only done it once before…"

"And what happened that one time?" I ask.

"It worked, but barely. It took a lot of time and effort." Ebon confessed.

"Then if it worked on that person, it'll work on him." I protested.

"It's not that easy, Katniss…" Ebon began, but I quickly cut him off.

"All I'm saying is to just try…please." I nearly begged, surprised by my innocent tone of voice.

Ebon sighed, running his hand through his raven black hair. "Alright, we'll try. But I'm making no promises that it'll work, alright Princess?"

I nodded, giving him a bright smile. "Thank you, Ebon."

Ebon smiled to himself and got up from the chair, heading towards the hallway. "You kids…are something else." I barely managed to make out his voice, but I chuckled when I did.

I placed my arms on the table and leaned my head against them. It has to work….

It will work…

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><p>Thanks for the reviews, guys! I hope you like the chapter. I even added Prim's and President Snow's POV, probably the last and only time, though. Be sure to leave me more reviews! ^.^<p> 


	9. Envies and Sorrows

**Katniss POV**

As I watched Ebon silently leave the room, I stood up from the chair and sighed. I leaned my back against the wall and averted my gaze depressingly towards the ground. What am I going to do..? Cato's an injured mess, Prim is crying her eyes out because she thinks I'm dead, Gale's furious with Peeta, and Peeta's lost with grief. But he loves me….and the horrible thing is that he thinks I love him back. I never even got a chance to tell him that it was all pretend. For the camera, all of it. The kisses, the hugs, the comfort.

I'm so sorry Peeta….I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that I'm hiding in this District, away from everyone I love, I'm sorry I'm helping our worst enemy…I'm sorry I like Gale more.

I cursed myself as I felt my eyes water, and quickly shook my head.

But I'm coming back, right…? I'm going back to District 12. I have to. I don't care if their President, or Ebon, or Miss White tell me not to, I'll escape anyway.

I looked up from the ground and shuffled my feet towards the room where Cato was in. No use feeling sorry for myself now, all I can hope is that Cato gets better so we can both leave.

I open the door and nearly crawl back in the room, because of my depressed mood and sleepiness. I close the door behind me and sit on the floor, facing Cato in front of me.

He merely raised an eyebrow at me.

"Should I sleep here tonight..? In case you need my help and all? Anyway, I don't know the way back to my room." I asked him, almost in a whisper. I couldn't believe I was actually asking him this. I half-expected for him to lunge at me and strangle me to death for even suggesting it.

"I could care less where you sleep." He begrudgingly stated, his voice dripping with menace.

"So is that a yes…?" I asked again, trying to avoid his gaze.

"I don't need your help, Firegirl. Sleep here if you want, but don't except to be in one piece when you wake up."

"I'm just trying to help, you sadist." I glared at him, not appreciating his tone of voice.

"Well stop trying. I said I don't need your help. Least of all with the rat sewer District you live in." He replied, and I noticed his heart rate slightly increasing because of the heart monitor nearby.

"Why would I ever want to help you..! Your just another one of those conceded morons from the career Districts!" I nearly shouted, wanting to throw something at him, but I knew I couldn't.

"Listen, you fucking rat-" He started to move from his position on the bed, but as soon as he did he inhaled a sharp intake of pain.

As soon as I realized he hurt himself, my face expression changed into a sympathetic one. "I'm sorry..I'm sorry." I approached him, bending to his level to softly stroke his hand.

He started to speak, but his voice instantly wavered. His hate-filled stare soon turned into one filled with pain, hurt, and innocence.

"Are you okay..?" I asked him, trying to remain calm.

He gave a slight wince, but soon turned back to normal as his heart rate started to decrease. "I'm fine.." He merely answered, but with slight annoyance. I knew it probably bothered him that he was in this weak state.

I continued to stroke his hand, which seemed to calm him down, like it always does. I placed my head against the mattress, near where he was laying. I slowly began to close my eyes, until I heard a voice calling for me.

"Katniss…" Cato let out a small grunt, trying to manage to say my name without the slightest bit of distaste or menace.

I blinked, bewildered by the fact that he said my name. "Yeah?"

He was silent for a few moments, just merely staring at me with his cold gaze. "Nothing.."

I let go of his hand and walked across the room to go pick up some pillows that were left in a pile of some blankets and sheets. I dragged one of the blankets to place it on the floor, next to the bed, while I held a few pillows under my arm.

I turned off a few of the lights inside the room before I crawled back to my spot near the bed. I slipped under the blanket and placed my head against one of the pillows, sighing in relief when discovering how soft they were.

"Goodnight, Cato." I smiled to myself, not really expecting him to answer back.

"Don't push it…" He warned.

* * *

><p>I fluttered my eyes open, but as soon as light cracked through them, I proceeded to hide under the covers again. I slowly rolled out of the covers and sat up on the floor. The floor was comfortable, unlike most floors. As I began to glance around the room, I discovered Cato's empty bed.<p>

I instantly stood up from my position on the floor and stared at the empty bed again to see if it was just a hallucination. But it wasn't. Cato's not there… Where is he?

I walked out of the room and closed the door behind me. I felt my hair and my braid was still in place from when I braided it yesterday. When I walked towards the table area, I instantly saw Ebon, Miss White, a man I've never seen before in a hulking figure. That must be Boggs. I stared up at him as he focused his stern gaze towards me. He was much older than Ebon, he looked about in his 50s I'm guessing, since his grey hair.

"That's Katniss, the girl I was talking about earlier." Ebon stated, referring to me.

"Hello, Katniss." Boggs respectfully dipped his head. Weird, since I thought he would be the type to murder anyone he sees. "I've heard a lot of things about you."

"Hi.." I replied, surprised by my innocent tone of voice again. I have to stop doing that.

"Where's Cato?" I asked them, staring at the smiling face of Miss White.

"I'm right here.." A cold voice answered from around the wall. I stepped completely inside the room and shockingly discovered Cato standing in the corner of the room with crutches.

"You're walking..!" I gasped, nearly beaming with joy.

"I guess." He raised an eyebrow.

"He should be off those crutches within a few days, I'm guessing. His wounds are recuperating in an amazingly fast rate." Miss White stated.

"That's good." I remained in a calm state, although I was gleaming with joy on the inside. Cato's getting better, which means we'll be leaving District 13 much sooner than I had hoped.

"Oh, by the way Katniss, Mason will be coming here within a few minutes. He wanted to show you around more again." Miss White explained.

"What about Cato?" I turned to glance at him, and he let out a small sigh.

"Don't worry about me, Firegirl." He said with both reassurance and annoyance at the same time.

"Cato can go look around the District one he can completely walk. As you noticed, there's a lot of rocky areas and steps around our District. We wouldn't want him accidently falling." Miss White continued.

I smiled, trying to hold in a laugh. The thought of Cato tripping and falling over a rock is just too funny. He avoided his gaze to escape the glare that was coming my way.

I made my way towards the bathroom to find my new set of clothes that was left for me inside. This time it was a green blouse and a long white skirt. I hate skirts even more than shorts…I bitterly changed clothes, and thought about asking them to leave me pants next time.

I walked out of the room and nearly ran into Mason who entered the hospital. He quickly stepped back and nervously smiled. "Hey, Katniss." He blushed.

"Hi Mason." I greeted back.

"Where are we going today?" I asked him, as he dragged me towards the exit where he entered from.

"I was thinking maybe the park. That's a real sight to see. They have this huge fountain and artificial grass, since well, we don't get much plants to grow down here. Or we could go to the training room." Mason explained a little too fast.

"Training room?" I silently asked, the name catching my interest.

"Yeah, training room. It's mostly for the really elite kids and their mentors to go to. Some kids train to fight really good. For protection of our District, or just to enter the Dome. I'm not one of those kids, though." He gave off a slight chuckle. "I can't fight for crap."

"Me neither." I shrugged, trying to make him feel better.

"Are you kidding? I've seen you on TV with that bow and arrow. You throw killer shots."

"That's what everyone says, I guess." I admit, instantly thinking about Gale. If I was back at the District, we would've gone hunting by now…

"Well, the park then?" Mason asked.

"Sure." I shrugged, continuing to walk beside him along with rocky path.

He led me down the trail again, the way we went to go visit the markets. As he stopped he pointed towards a large building with wiring around the top. It looked somewhat like a jail.

"That's the training building, with all sorts of training rooms. Speed, agility, endurance, balance, weaponry. It's really cool, I've only been there a couple of times, though." Mason followed my gaze as we both stared at it with awe.

"It looks cool. We should go see it next." I smiled.

"Yeah.." He froze in front of me, stopping me in my tracks, as we faced a group of kids about our age in front of us. Two girls and three guys, kind of reminded me of a career group, in a way.

"Hi Jana." Mason hesitantly greeted, referring to the red-headed girl who we saw yesterday.

She rudely ignored Mason, and focused her gaze onto mine, while letting off a know-it-all smirk. I already knew I wasn't going to like her very much.

"You must be the District 12 girl. Everyone's been talking about you." She then frowned, crossing her arms at me.

"Who are you?" I asked, in a not so sweet voice.

"I'm Jana. One of the best trained elites in the District. If I went into the Games, I could easily beat you. I don't care how good you are with a bow and arrow. It's not enough to impress me." She let off her stupid smirk again, while the other girl incredulously chuckled.

She instantly reminded me of Glimmer. The pretty blonde from District 1 allied with Cato and the other careers. But even Glimmer wasn't this snooty as this girl was.

"I don't want to impress you. I could care less if you were one of the elites. Now get out of my way." I stepped in front of Mason, who was staring at me with a dropped jaw.

"We'll see about that, District 12. I dare you to go to the training room. Show me what you're made of." Jana simply tossed her hair aside.

"Fine. I will." I seethed with anger, Mason nearly having to hold me back to keep me from punching her face in.

She let out a small giggle. "I'll be looking forward to it."

As soon as her little posse left in the other direction, I kept myself from glaring at her. Mason continued to stare at me with a shocked expression on his face.

"Wow. I cannot believe you just did that. No one would've had the guts to stand up and face her like the way you did. You're amazing."

"I don't like her." I merely stated.

Mason silently laughed. "Man, I am so looking forward to going to the training room, now. Should we go tomorrow?"

I turned around and let him lead me towards the direction of the park. "Lets."

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><p>Happy New Years everybody! :) Hope you liked this chapter, sorry it took longer than the other ones. Thanks a bunch, anyway! REVIEW! Pretty please? :D<p> 


	10. Unwanted Hate

**Katniss POV**

As Mason and I walked back into the entrance of the hospital I found myself thinking about that training room even more and more. That girl, Jana… Who does she think she is? To think she can beat me in the Games…she doesn't even know what the Games are. What you have to do…what it's like to kill someone…

"What are the elites..?" I find myself silently asking Mason, who has been chattering incessantly since we got back from the park. I don't really pay attention to what he says, most of the time.

"The elites?" Mason turns to face me. "The elites are the best highly trained fighters in the entire District. Most of them are rebels, since they can fight really good."

"But, when you mean "good fighters", how good are they?" I softly kick a pebble that was sitting along the path.

"They're really good. You know your careers, in the Games? They're probably as good as them, actually maybe even better." Mason stops beside me, watching as I amusingly kick rocks with my foot.

I immediately think of Cato when he says careers. Cato was really good in the Games. He was the best career in there, no doubt. I was actually even scared of him at one point….Can these "elites" actually fight better or as good as him…? No way.

"I guess they're really good, then." I absent mindedly answer back.

"Really good." He repeats, and I continue to follow him towards the hospital.

When we step inside one of the many entrances into the hospital, I immediately see Miss White and Boggs silently chatting to each other on the table. As I avoided several frantic nurses running along with paperwork, I stopped to stare at Miss White. She had an intriguing look on her face. Whatever Boggs was talking about, it certainly got her attention.

"Hi Miss White." Mason interrupted their conversation, while I stepped beside him.

She looked up from Boggs to stare at us. "Hello, Mason and Katniss." She then gave one of her many infamous smiles.

"Where's Ebon?" I frown, gazing around the room to only discover his absence. I needed to talk to him about something. He's the only one I trust in this District. Boggs seems like he would be more loyal to the President, and Miss White's already keeping secrets from me.

"He's probably off somewhere, doing his work. As Head Guard, I can only imagine that every day is hectic for him." She replied. "He'll be back soon, though."

"Okay." I leaned back against the wall and allowed Mason to take a seat near the table next to me. I sighed and walked away from the wall, watching as nurses ran around and gathered inside rooms. With curiosity, I walked towards the hallway and tried to figure out what they were doing that was so important. I began to descend deeper into the hallway, and as my eyes strayed away from where I was walking, I found myself accidentally bumping into a person.

"I'm sorry..!" I mumbled, quickly discovering that whoever I bumped into had crutches. I glanced up, and immediately recognized Cato.

"Cato." I say, relieved. I hadn't seen him the whole day, not since this morning.

He doesn't look up at me, his gaze staying on the floor. I silently watch as he clenches his fists on his crutches. He's angry. I don't know why…

"Get out of my way." He seethes, averting his cold eyes back to mine.

If looks could kill...

I bump back into the wall, allowing him to limp his way out of the hallway and towards the tables. I give out a sigh of misery, and helplessly find myself glaring at his back. Why does he have to be so mean…? What did I ever do to him?

I bite my lip and walk the opposite way, trying to find a room where I could crawl into. He's nice one minute, and then he hates my guts the next…

I give out another frustrated sigh. Since when do I care? I'm supposed to hate him, anyways. He means nothing to me…He's just the enemy, remember? I hate District 2.

I slowly collapse against the floor and lean my back against the wall. I bring my knees up to my chest and bury my face into them. Why am I so nice to him? I wasn't ever this nice to Peeta. And he actually LIKES me.

I frown, glancing up from my knees and towards the opposite wall. I barely notice footsteps coming down the hallway where I'm sitting.

"Katniss?" I hear a voice say. I glance up, kind of hoping that it's Ebon or Miss White, but I quickly discover that it's only Mason.

"Yeah?" I begin to sit up from off the floor.

"Hey...what's wrong?" He softly asks, as he bends down to meet my face.

"Nothing." I immediately reply, my frown changing into a fake smile. "I'm just tired."

"Oh, okay then…" Mason raises his eyebrow, and I know he doesn't believe me.

I stand up from the floor and walk beside him, trying to drag him back towards the tables. "Come on. Let's go back."

He grins, and we both walk back towards the tables, where Miss White is still sitting, searching through piles of paperwork, but Boggs isn't there anymore. He probably left.

I sit down on one of the chairs, as Mason leans against the wall beside me. I place my arms on the table and watch Miss White. She's quiet, odd.

"Mason told me what you did." She says, interrupting the silence of the room.

I lean back against the chair. "What did I do..?" I ask, gazing from side to side.

She placed her paperwork down, and watched me with a stern, serious gaze. "Ebon isn't going to be happy."

"Not happy with what?" I impatiently ask again, not understanding the conversation.

"Katniss, you talked back to one of the elites. You can't do that here…" She frowned at me, one of the only times I've seen her frown.

"But it was amazing! You should've seen her-" Mason began, but Miss White's angry voice interrupted.

"I'm sure she was amazing, but it was foolish to do. Do you know what kind of trouble you can get into for talking to an elite like that?"

"I don't care!" I nearly shout. "She was asking for it. She came up to me, wanting to fight."

"You're supposed to ignore her and apologize for whatever inconvenience you might have given her." Miss White picks up her paperwork and continues to file it.

"Are you serious? I should've punched her in the face!" I cross my arms, and hear Mason laugh next to me.

"Katniss.." Miss White warned. "She's an elite, you have no idea what they're capable of."

"I don't care what she's capable of, you don't have any idea what I'm capable of, either." I lean the chair sideways, nearly about to walk away from the conversation.

"No, I don't. But still, you don't talk to an elite that way." She replies, eager to leave the conversation as well.

"Wait till I show her off in the training room.." I silently mumble.

Miss White dropped her paperwork. "What!" She gazes up at me, and then at an innocent-looking Mason.

Mason sheepishly smiled. "Sorry, I forgot to mention that Katniss is supposed to fight her in the training room tomorrow."

"Katniss, no! Your wounds just healed!" She worriedly shouted.

"She can't be that bad…I've dealt with worse." I shrug, slightly referring to Clove, Cato's former district partner. She almost cut my throat until Thresh managed to come along.

"You're seriously underestimating the power of the elites." This time Mason answered. So much for his encouragement.

"I never back down from a fight. No matter how tough they are." I merely reply, watching Mason stare at me adoringly, while Miss White incredulously stares at me.

"Ebon trains the elites...I've seen them fight before..and they fight brutally. It was hard to watch." Miss White silently says.

"He's their trainer?" I ask in awe. So Ebon's an elite too…

"Yes." She stares at me, and for a second I think she's nearly crying. "You have no idea what you're getting yourself into, Katniss…"

I silently stare at the floor, not answering back.

"She'll be fine." Mason answers with a grin. "Katniss is right. You have no idea what she's capable of. You haven't watched her with that bow and arrow of hers. "

"I hope your right. I hope she's as good as you say she is." Miss White smiles back. "For her sake."

I avert my gaze outside a window and see that all the lights are turned off outside. Which means it's nighttime.

"I'm tired." I say, slowly getting up from the chair. "I think I'm going to go to bed."

"Your bed is all ready for you. I left extra blankets in case you get cold. The hospital tends to get a little chilly at night. So, you don't have to sleep in Cato's room tonight, if you don't want to." Miss White explains.

I slightly blush. She saw me in his room…? I look away and roll my eyes. Like I'll ever do that again. He hates my guts right now, anyway.

"Goodnight, Miss White. Mason." I begin to leave the room.

"I hope you're ready for tomorrow, champ." Mason beams from behind me.

I let out a small smile and turn the corner, outside of the room. I walk down the hallway and stop as I pass by a room which has couches and a big TV. It's probably the break room for the nurses.

I started to continue my way towards my room when I saw Cato laying on the floor, with his back leaned on one of the couches. Wonder why he didn't lay on one of the couches. Is he okay..?

I curse myself for caring so much, as I slowly walk towards him. I stop a few feet away from him and tilt my head to get a closer look at his face. His eyes were closed, and he seemed in a very relaxed and calm state, by the way his chest was rising and falling, so I'm guessing he's just resting.

I turn around and walk out of the room, proceeding to walk back towards my room.

As I enter the room, I find my bed all made and several blankets sitting on the corner. I'm about to crawl under the covers of my bed when I think of Cato. Will he be alright by himself…? I lightly groan and lay my head back on one of the pillows. Of course, he will. He doesn't need my help, remember? I stare at the several blankets sitting in the corner and narrow my eyes at them.

Don't you even think about it….

I give out an exasperated sigh and sit up on the bed. My eyes gaze from the bed to the blankets back and forth. I've slept on the floor before…it should be no problem. No. I should stay on the bed, it's more warmer anyway.

I let out a silent row of curses as I get up from the bed and grab the pillows and blankets. I slowly begin to drag them out of the room and towards the break room.

* * *

><p><strong>Cato's POV<strong>

I clench my eyelids shut as I feel another wave of pain flow throughout my body. Ugh..why won't the pain stop..? I couldn't even manage to lay on one of the couches, I just merely collapsed on the ground. Stupid, Katniss. She doesn't understand. She'll never understand my pain. She pretends to be my friend…she pretends to care…

I inhale as I fight another wave of pain. I really shouldn't have slept on the floor…

I try to move my body sideways, but the pain only increases. I curse and helplessly open my eyes, leaning my body back against the couch again. As I move one of my legs, I feel a warmth beside it, like a person is there.

I blink and glance down beside my leg, discovering Katniss sleeping, curled up into a comfortable state next to my waist. She only has one sheet of blanket covering her body, the rest she gave to me.

I sigh and glare at her. Why does she want to help me so much…? Is it because she feels sorry for me?

I watch her for a few minutes, as her chest rises and falls. She doesn't make a single noise. I absent mindedly stroke her cheek with my good hand and remove a strand of her dark hair that was against one of her eyes. As I begin to realize what I'm doing, I instantly pull my hand away from her face and place it beside me.

I'm supposed to hate you, Firegirl…I want to. But I can't. I can't hate you…Damn you.

I give out a frustrated grunt as I look away from her, closing my eyes to try to fall asleep again. The sooner I get out of this District and back to mine, the better.

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><p><strong>Sorry this chapter took long to make, again! I've been caught up with school, but I'll try to write the chapters faster. Anyways, thanks for the many reviews on the last chapter :) I appreciate it. I hope you like it! Nothing much really happens in this chapter, but in the next chapter there will. Review please! :D<strong>


	11. The Elites

**Katniss POV**

I let out a slight groan as I hear someone call my name. I shift my head against the pillow; or at least I think it's a pillow. It's much harder than I remember. The person calls my name again, more irritated this time.

I sigh and flutter my eyes open, gazing up at a blurry face. I bring my knees closer to my chest and hug them, allowing myself to crawl up into a ball. Who's waking me up..?

"I'm going to give you two seconds to wake up, Fire Girl…" A voice says, his voice clearly murderous.

Oh, god.

I instantly open my eyes to find Cato's annoyed face staring down at me. Oh yeah….I forgot. I slept next to him last night…

"Good Morning?" I sheepishly reply.

His eyes narrow at me, and I realize I've probably made him even more upset.

"Why did you wake me up..?" I frown, nuzzling against the hard pillow. My surroundings were still blurry, so I could barely make out where I was laying down at.

"You're sort of on me…" He answered back.

I turn and stare at him with a confused look at my face. I'm on him…? What's he talking about…?

As I discover that the pillow I had my head against was actually his waist, I felt my face turn a whole shade of red as I instantly jerk back and jump off him. "I'm sorry! Did I hurt you?" I ask.

"No..you're actually kind of light.." He shrugged.

I miserably avert my gaze to the floor to avoid his. Ugh….how long was I sleeping on him…? Oh gosh, I'm so stupid. Stupid!

"Do me a favor, next time if you decide to sleep on something, don't use me as your personal pillow." He calmly told me, however his cold eyes were seething with hate.

"I didn't do it on purpose…" I mumbled, keeping my gaze away from his.

"Try telling that to Lover Boy…" He smirked at me, with a look so arrogant I could barely resist the urge to punch him in the face. How dare he bring Peeta into this…

"You're horrible!" I merely replied. I wanted to scream at him, shout terrible things, but I somehow couldn't. Why can't I be mean to him?

"Whatever." He rolled his eyes, leaning against the couch for support as he began to stand up. However, every movement was like stinging pain to him, by the way he winced as he finally stood up.

I failed to argue back, since my sympathy instantly took over. I hate when it does that.

"Do you need help..?" I silently ask, lifting myself off from the floor as well.

"No." He instantly replies, his glare defeating my helpless gaze. He grabs his crutches and begins to limp forward, purposely bumping into my shoulder as he walks by.

I ignore his rudeness, figuring that he just might be in a bad mood. Oh wait, he's always in a bad mood. I try to say a smart remark back at him, but instead my words are drowned by the frantic shouting of Mason running inside the room like a gleeful maniac.

"Katniss! Oh gosh, Katniss! You'll never guess what happened!" Mason grinned like a homeless individual who had just won the lottery.

Beside me, Cato let out a rather annoyed groan. "You again…" He mumbled, referring to Mason.

"Don't mind him." I quickly replied. "What happened?"

Despite of Cato's rude gesture, Mason still remained onto his happy state. "When the elites found out that you were coming, the whole training room went haywire. Everyone in the District is talking about it now!" He laughed.

"Seriously..? Wow." I blinked. They really took this seriously, I guess.

"What are the elites?" Cato asked, limping towards me with a confused expression on his face.

"The elites are the top ranked fighters in this whole District. One of them challenged Katniss to a fight. She accepted, so now she's going to fight her today." Mason explained.

"Top ranked fighters…?" Cato turned to me, obviously not looking very happy about it.

"Yeah, that's what everyone says, anyway." I shrugged.

"Don't be an idiot, Fire Girl. What if these elite fuckers are really good? They'll roast you alive." He narrowed his eyes.

I stared at him, perplexed. Was Cato really worried about me…? Or is that just my imagination? "They can't be as good as the careers. I mean, I managed to stay alive when you and the other careers were so desperately trying to murder me." I stated.

"That's because we had seventeen more tributes to worry about, you moron. If it was just you and me out in the arena, I guarantee you, I would've killed you the second the Games started." He glared.

I opened my mouth to say something but instead averted my gaze back to the floor. He's probably right…

"Don't be threatening me now, Cato. You didn't kill me, the Games are over. Nothing you can do about it now." I crossed my arms.

"Oh…? What makes you think I still can't kill you in your sleep? Since I seem to be some sort of sleep magnet to you whenever you feel like laying down on something, it'll be as easy as stomping on a little helpless ant." He approached me, making me suddenly take a few steps back.

"Hey, hey! Alright, no fighting, now." Mason stepped in, who seemed to be watching our conversation.

"Relax. I'm not gonna lay a hand on her. Not now, at least." Cato turned, and walked the other way outside of the room. "Don't try anything too bold when you fight that elite, alright Fire Girl? Promise me you'll come back in one piece..

I stepped beside Mason, who was currently standing in front of me. Was that supposed to be a "be careful" sort of thing? I guess so. "I promise…" I whispered, barely enough for him to hear.

He stopped, avoiding my gaze. His grip on his crutches soon tightened, before he finally limped back outside, with his back towards me.

"Come on, we have to head towards the training room now." Mason glanced at me, slightly bewildered by the small "moment" that me and Cato had.

I nodded, ready for whatever those elites throw at me. And eager to punch that snotty look off of Jana's face.

* * *

><p>As me and Mason entered the Training room, it was just a usual building with workout machines and such. I guessed that the more intense training objects were upstairs.<p>

I glanced at a few group of kids who were surrounding each other in a corner of the room, hungrily staring at me up and down from all angles. They all had bloodthirsty smirks on their faces, waiting, anticipating, for me to do something.

I pressed myself closer to Mason, since these kids were giving me tense.

"It's alright." He assured me, trying to avoid the kids' gaze as much as possible. "Just ignore them. That's what they want. They want you to feel scared."

"That's nice of them." I sarcastically murmured, holding onto Mason as he continued to lead me through several steely hallways. I heard shouts and cries of defeat echo throughout the hallways which put me even more on edge. Doors make clanking noises as they opened and reopened, some who were kids' grinning with victory, and other were holding an ice pack against their bleeding face.

"Oh my god." I inhaled.

"You'll be fine." Mason grinned, although his eyes were lying.

Once we both ascended up the stairs and opened the door, I immediately tried to avoid the rush of air blowing into my face once we entered the room. Or the "arena" as I should say.

I heard shouts and weapons being clanked together from down below. As I looked down the stairs I could see several elites fighting each other. But it was like something I've never seen before.

They were doing an order of flips and gymnastics to try to dodge each other's attacks. Once they managed to strike each other, they would keep on dodging and fighting each other, like some sort of fight you would see in a magical monk fighting movie.

The other person managed to grab his opponent and catch him in a deadly headlock before trying to twist his head in the opposite direction.

"Oh my gosh…he's going to kill him..!" I managed to shout, but instead Mason held me back and tried to shush me into calming myself.

"Stop!" A loud voice shouted from one of the announcement speakers, that boomed throughout the entire arena.

The guy instantly let go of his opponent and they shook hands, despite their cold glares towards one another. I'm guessing that's part of the fight. You attempt to kill your opponent, until they tell you to stop.

The two elites went up the stairs, grinning at each other as they passed me.

"Katniss…" A voice approached me from behind, causing me to suddenly turn around.

Ebon.

Wow…I'm so dead.

"What the hell is she doing here?" He snarled, sending his furious gaze towards Mason.

"Uh, sir..I thought you heard." Mason blinked.

"Oh, I heard alright. I had hoped they were just rumors. Katniss..you shouldn't be here. I even told the other elites that you're weren't coming."

"I'm not afraid of them, Ebon." I protested.

He chuckled, a incredulous chuckle full of sarcasm and disbelief. "You have no idea what you're getting yourself into, Princess."

"That's what Miss White told me." I shrugged.

"You should've listened to her." Ebon insisted.

Our conversation was soon interrupted by none other than the one I was eager to see the most. Jana.

She smirked at me, batting her oh, so pretty eyelashes at me. "Well, well, look what we have here. Didn't think you would come, District 12. Thought you would be too chicken."

"Me? No way, never in a million years. Especially to the likes of someone like you." I sneered.

Ebon stared at me, and by the way he was glaring, I could tell he was about to lose it. "Jana, stop riling her up, you're only making it worse." He ordered.

Jana instantly glanced up at Ebon, with a total change of expression on her snotty face. "But sir, she started it-!"

"I don't care." He coldly interrupted.

She closed her mouth and merely bowed her head. "Yes..sir." She turned and walked the other way towards the other group of elites.

I laughed. That's right, I forgot. Ebon's their trainer. Jana has to follow orders from him.

However, my gleeful amusement was soon replaced by Ebon's cold glare. "This isn't funny, Katniss. I hope you're ready for the match, for our sake." He sighed and begrudgingly headed towards the group of elites, probably regretting every word that just came out of his mouth.

"Are you ready?" Mason asked me.

I inhaled a large breath of air and sighed. "Ready as I'll ever be."

I grabbed one of the only designed metal bow and arrows from the weapon rack, and guessed that the elites preferred their fists or swords since the bow and arrow seemed to be misused. I held it in my hands, trying to position my hands and arms. It wasn't like a normal wooden bow and arrow that I usually used for hunting, but a more perplexed and difficult contraption for a bow and arrow.

"Up next! Is Jana Halos , and our very special guest, Katniss Everdeen!" The announcement speakers boomed.

The elites cheered and smirked at both me and Jana, as we both descended down the stairs. When we reached the artificial clay arena of the room, I watched as Jana glared at me with complete happiness in her eyes. She probably couldn't wait for the announcement speakers to start the match so she could finally tear me to shreds…

"Are both opponents ready?" I heard Ebon shout from upstairs, and glanced up to see him leaning down from a railing.

"Oh, I am so ready." Jana's grin grew wider.

"Yeah, I guess." I replied weakly from below, Jana's voice sounding way more confident than mines.

"Alright…" Ebon answered back, his eyes staring at mine with pity. He slightly held his head down and gripped the bars of the railing. I watched as Mason, and other elites surround the railing to look down at us like mad dogs waiting for someone to bring them a bone.

"GO!" The announcement speakers echoed throughout the room. As soon as the echo began, I instantly raised my bow and arrow to prepare to fire an arrow at Jana.

However, she was nowhere to be seen.

"What the-" My voice was interrupted by the sound of giggling behind me.

Oh no.

As soon as I whipped my head around to face her, she punched me in the stomach and swiped her feet across mine to trip me.

I landed on the ground and coughed as I blocked another kick from her. I was always so terrible in close-range combat.

Avoiding another blowing kick, I rolled over to the side and picked up my bow and arrow that I had currently dropped from Jana tripping me. I clenched the bow and arrow with my hands and ran back a few feet in order to avoid her furious kicks and punches. As I strayed a few feet away from her, I immediately released one of my arrows as soon as I saw her coming at me.

The arrow missed her by an inch as she yelped in surprise and tumbled forward onto the floor. She crouched down and stared at my arrow in awe, which was now protruding from a nearby wall.

I could hear the others from above gasp, while I could also barely make out Mason's incredulous laugh of glee.

I slyly smiled to myself. I told them not to underestimate me…

"You filthy rat." Jana spat, her eyes now off the arrow and focusing on to mine. Figuring she couldn't come at me head-on, she flipped over to the side and zoomed past me in an attempt to get behind me.

I gasped and whirled around, searching for her. I couldn't let her get behind me. No way. That's my weakest point.

As soon as I heard her furious cry, by instinct I moved to the side and dodged an upcoming punch from her. I could tell she was getting impatient. Now I have her right where I want her.

I released another one of my arrows and watched as it flew right by her again, since she ducked.

How does she do that…? No one dodges my arrows that fast…

This time, she punched my jaw and sent my head flying towards the side of the wall where I heard a loud "bam."

I held my head in pain as my vision begin to spin. She kicked the side of my body, which caused me to roll against the floor and helplessly lay limp. I clench my eyes and block my face with my arms in case she tried to punch or kick me again. She's winning…She's beating me…

She threw herself onto of me in an attempt to hold me down as I thrashed around in order to try and get free. Her hands tightened around my neck as I kicked and tried to push her off. Oh god, she going to kill me. She's going to strangle me. Why won't they yell stop..?

I spit in her face and she instantly gasped and turned her head away from me. As soon as I felt my neck being released, I reached out and punched her in the face, digging my nails against her cheek as I did.

She screamed and furiously whipped my hands away, shouting in my face. "She touched me! She touched my face! Nobody touches my face, you bitch!" She punched me several times in the jaw, and as I held my arms up against my face, she hit and kicked the rest of my body like some sort of wild animal in rage.

I could feel my whole body bursting into pain as I lay there motionless.

"Stop! That's enough! ENOUGH!" I heard Ebon shout from above, followed by other footsteps that frantically ran down the stairs.

As I slowly opened my eyes, I saw several elites grabbing Jana and taking her away as she kicked and screamed in protest. "No! I'll kill her! Let me GO!"

I heard a few more furious shouts from Ebon, referring to Jana's protests. I heard doors slam and her screaming suddenly cease as Mason and a few other elites crouched down beside me.

"Katniss!" Mason called me.

"Give her room!" I heard Ebon yell once again. As the others moved back, he crouched down beside me and gently felt my face and neck, probably to see if I was still breathing. I coughed up several amounts of blood and weakly glanced up at Ebon.

"Ow…" I merely croaked.

"Katniss, look at me. Katniss…" Ebon whispered, or at least I thought it was a whisper since my world was rapidly fading into darkness.

Before I knew it, everything went black.

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><p><strong>SORRY! I took longer than the other chapters to update! But luckily, this chapter's REALLY long. Well, longer than the others at least. Please review, guys! Thanks Phoenix Retribution and limelight24 for reviewing almost every one of my chapters! :D Hugs! Thanks for everyone else, too!<strong> **Hope you liked this chapter! I'm sorry I kinda left a cliffhanger there, like I do in all my other chapters.**


	12. Sinners

**Katniss POV**

I softly inhaled a breath of air as I found myself lying on a nearby couch watching as all the nurses fretted over me. My vision was blurred, so I could only make out certain shapes and voices. As I let out a tiny groan, a few of the nurses removed the cold ice pack that was sitting on my forehead and replaced it with a newer one.

"Hold still, Katniss." I heard Ebon say.

"Trying..." I managed a whisper.

Stupid Jana. That horrible bitch. Well, at least I got the satisfaction of punching her in the face and watching her explode in anger. I'll beat her...one day. God, everyone wasn't kidding when they said the elites were good. They're like the gods of combat. Surely if they entered the Games, they would win no doubt.

"Idiot. You look like roadkill. What did I say about being careful?" I heard Cato's voice say, obviously directing towards me. Even though it was sort of an insult, I felt my heart flutter with relief.

"Cato..." I tried to flutter my eyes open to gaze up at his cold, but beautiful light brown eyes.

"I'm here, Fire Girl.." He sighed and unwillingly took my hand in his, in an effort to reassure me.

I gave out a series of moans and groans. "Ugh...oh my god, it hurts. Wha..? What happened..?" I slurred.

"That elite kicked your ass, that's what happened. When Ebon carried you in the hospital, I thought you got hit by a truck." Cato replied.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny." I tried to roll my eyes but instead clenched them shut when the ice pack started to fall off my forehead.

Cato gave out a frustrated grunt as he placed the ice pack back on my forehead again. "Stay still, Katniss..."

"We gave her an anesthetic for the pain, so she might have some side effects." One of the nurses explained.

Just as Cato was about to speak, I burst out in a fit of laughter. "Oh my gosh..isn't..isn't this sooo ironic..? Ha. Hahaha. That first, I was helping you...even though you're my worst enemy..Hahaha, and you wanted to kill me...but now, you're helping me...hahaha!"

"Is this supposed to happen...?" Cato gave an incredulous look to one of the nurses while they came over and tried to adjust my ice pack and bandages.

"Just hold her still." They merely replied.

"Cato...Cato..." I weakly called.

"What?" He glared at me.

"Cato...don't leave me. Don't ever leave me. Please. I need you." I edged closer and nuzzled my head against his chest.

He grunted. "Ugh...Katniss."

"Don't." I frowned, my eyes still closed.

"I won't." He replied almost instantly in an effort to end the awkward conversation.

"Don't hate me. We can be friends." I blinked, staring up at him. Oh god...I couldn't even tell if this was real life anymore...probably just a dream. Just a dream..

"Yeah, whatever."

"Peeta, Peeta, are you there? I...I'm sorry, Peeta. I still love you...as a friend." I looked up as Cato's face was being replaced by Peeta's.

"I'm not lover boy..." Cato's voice replied, but the image was still clearly Peeta.

"I love you too Cato...even if you're a cold-hearted killer. I really do. I. Love. You." I smiled.

"Just shut up and go to sleep, Katniss." He replied, annoyed.

"The side effects are happening, so she should start falling asleep." I heard a nearby nurse say as my vision started to blacken.

I inhaled again as I closed my eyes, and continued to lay my head against Cato's chest. As my world started to drift away once again, I could feel someone squeeze my hand for comfort.

That was a weird dream...

* * *

><p><strong>Cato's POV<strong>

Several hours passed since Katniss fell asleep due to the anesthetic that the nurses gave her. Thank god I didn't have to listen to her stupid comments caused by the side effects for very long. I leaned back against a nearby couch next to the one Katniss was sleeping on, and sighed.

She said she needed me...That idiot Fire Girl...How dare she? I should've strangled her for that.

"She should be waking up soon, now." Ebon exclaimed, who was know entering the room.

"I'm not looking forward to that..." I narrowed my eyes.

"I have to admit, you do a pretty good job in comforting her. She always calls for you, too. I guess you must mean something to her."

"I doubt that." I resisted the urge to glare at Ebon and beat the living crap out of him. I don't care about Katniss...

I can't.

I won't.

"Mason wanted to see her, but I told him to wait until tomorrow." Ebon leaned back against the wall.

I could see Mason obviously had a crush on Katniss. The way he looked at her every time he saw her. Poor him. He was such a desperate little shit.

"So, tell me. If you're elites are this good that they could easily beat the living daylights out of Katniss, how come this District never entered the Games? They would've been worthy oppenents. Maybe they could've even joined the careers." I ask.

"We want to stay in hiding from the rest of the nation. We don't exactly agree or want to follow their rules. We run things our own way." Ebon shrugged.

I raised an eyebrow. He actually got me to agree with him. Maybe this District wasn't so bad after all.

"You make a good point.." I silently replied, keeping my gaze on the floor.

Ebon was about to say something else until we heard Katniss move against the blankets that were covering her body.

"Katniss." Ebon made his way towards the couch.

"Ebon. Where am I?" She lifted herself up to position her head against the pillow.

"Careful, try not to move so much. You're in the hospital."

"Oh..how bad was I hurt..?" She asked.

As I listened to their conversation, I cooly lifted myself of the chair and slowly made my way outside of the room. Luckily, they told me I didn't have to wear my crutches anymore so now I'm just stuck with a cast on my bad arm. The pain wasn't sever anymore as it used to be, but it was still there. Just very slight.

"You have a couple bad bruises, not none that are gonna kill you. You're going to be fine. Just try to rest up." Ebon replied.

However, Katniss ignored his comment as she watched me try to exit the room. "Cato, wait."

I stopped to look back at her. "What? I'm sure you'll be fine without me for a minute, Katniss. I'm just going to check if Ms. White is back."

"I just wanted to ask you something.." She blinked at me.

"It's alright, you stay with her, Cato. I'll check if Ms. White is back." Ebon nodded at me and proceeded to walk out of the room.

When the door closed behind us, I rolled my eyes. "What is it, Fire Girl?"

"Did I..say anything weird to you, when I first woke up? I had this dream.." She avoided my gaze.

"Yeah, so what? It wasn't a dream, Katniss. You said a whole bunch of bullshit lovey dovey things to me. You even thought I was Lover Boy. It's alright, I won't kill you over it. Not now, at least.

"Oh..." She groaned, trying to hide her flushed face under the covers. "I'm sorry." She sheepishly replied.

"You're so hopeless." I chuckled.

"I think..I think I have a concussion. Stupid bitch..hit me hard.." She fluttered her eyes.

"Don't fall asleep, then." I shrugged.

"But..I..I'm tired.." She sat up from the couch and softly held her head in her hands.

"So? What do you want me to do about it?" I came closer towards her, letting my glare pierce hers.

"I don't know.." She helplessly fell to the side and made a desperate attempt to keep her eyes open.

"Don't go to sleep." I instantly ordered, trying to shake her awake. Damn, where are the nurses when you need them...?

"Tell me, oh I don't know...I guess..tell me about Lover Boy or someone like that." I ask.

"Peeta..? Well, he's a baker's boy. His father's a baker. They live up on this little hill. And they cook all sorts of things, like cakes and deserts. He's really good at making them, I tried one once, it was really good. Sometimes we trade my meat that I get from hunting for one of their pastries. A really good deal, if you ask me. He says he probably wants to continue to bake in his father's shop even when he passes, but he doesn't know yet. And-"

I quickly fade away and ignore Katniss and her Lover Boy's pathetic life story. Why am I even asking about him...? I think I'm going to shoot myself from boredom. Baking cakes..? What a life. Congratulations Lover Boy. You just earned a fucking medal for officially being the most low-life idiot who does nothing else with his life besides bake cakes with his Daddy. Why is Katniss still talking...? Blah. Blah. Blah. Fucking Blah.

"Okay, stop! Just, stop! Talk about something else, just not him." I groan and let my head fall against the couch.

"Okay fine. I'll talk about Gale." She stared at me.

"No, not him either. His life is probably no better than Lover Boy's. Ugh.." I sighed.

"Fine tell me about...Clove then." She asked.

I instantly lifted my head up and glared at her. "No." I coldly spat. "No, it's none of your business, anyway. I don't want to talk about her." I say.

I don't want the memories to come back again...I just barely got rid of them..no. I'll talk about anyone but her.

She bit her lip and moved herself in a more upwards position. I couldn't make out her face as she turned away from me.

"I'm.." She began to say but quickly got cut off by her break in her voice.

"What?" I suspiciously stare at her.

"I'm sorry..she's dead..I'm so sorry, Cato!" She choked, trying to hide her face.

"Hey, hey...look at me.." I took her face in my hands and forced her to stare at me.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry..." She blinked, and I watched as tears began to stream down her face.

"It wasn't your fault. Thresh killed her, remember? I got my revenge." I narrowed my eyes.

"But..but he killed her to protect me. It was...my fault." She inhaled, trying to breathe.

"It's not your fault, Katniss." I gently replied.

"Yes...yes it is!" She protested.

I gave out a frustrated grunt as I lifted her off the couch and tried to hold her in my arms as she sobbed like a five year old loosing their candy.

I moved us both over against a wall as she sobbed into my shoulder. I tried to shush her, tell her everything's going to be alright, and surprisingly her sobbing quieted down.

She embraced me as I absent-mindedly stroked her hair in an effort to calm her. She wiped her tears away and buried her face against my chest. "Cato.." She whispered.

"Don't cry...it's alright. I'm...here." I let out an exasperated sigh. Why..? Why am I comforting her? Damn, why does it hurt so much to see her cry? Why?

Katniss Everdeen.

The girl I used to hate and wanted to kill.

The Fire Girl from District 12.

I...cared about her.

* * *

><p><strong>Katniss POV<strong>

As I stood in Cato's arms, softly laying my head against his chest and listening to his heart beat, I felt my heart flutter each time he whispered sweet nothings in my ear and stroked my hair to comfort me.

What is this feeling..? I've never had it with Gale or Peeta before. Gale, whenever he held me or kissed me, I felt like I had a good friend at my side. Whenever Peeta held me, it was more rushed and insignificant. But Cato...when he holds me...I felt my stomach drop in loops, my heart flutter with joy, love, need.

I can't...

No, I can't actually like him...

What if I do...?

What happens then?

A mere girl from District 12, a poor rat, as the career districts say, likes a brutal blood-thirsty career from District 2.

But the thing is, I could care less.

I nuzzled my head deeper against his chest as I breathed in a gulp of air.

I had a crush on a sadist.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, this is officially the longest time I have ever updated. I'm sorry! But it's because I had family over for two weeks so I couldn't use the computer that much, but luckily, now I can :) I really hope you like this chapter and I really hope you leave tons of reviews like the last time :D Thanks guys. Also, I might make a poll, so be on the lookout if I do. <strong>


	13. Sadistic Lust

**Katniss POV**

I layed on the couch, carefully watching as Ms. White felt my forehead to check if I had a fever or a concussion; or both. I inhaled and averted my gaze over to Cato who was sitting on a chair next to me. His narrowed gaze strayed towards the floor while he gently stroked my hand and squeezed it to reassure me.

I continued to watch him, my mouth opening to say something, but instead only a slight cough came out. I sighed and turned my body towards him, this time his eyes gazing up to face mine.

Why do I feel this chemistry to him...? I feel like a magnet, wanting to attach myself to him every time I lay eyes on his face...

Cato...

"Well, you have a slight concussion, but it should wear off soon," Ms. White explained. "Ebon, why don't you ask her a few questions, first?" She glanced at Ebon who was leaning against a wall nearby us.

He made his way on over to the couch and stooped down to my level, keeping his serious gaze onto mine.

"First question, where were you when you first came here?"

"The Games," I blinked. Wow, it almost seems like an eternity since me and Peeta entered the Games, and Cato was hunting me down...

"Second question, what was the first thing that Cato said to you during the Games?"

"Umm.." I bit my lip. What did he say to me...? Oh yeah, I remember! "How's the weather up there?" I replied.

Ebon raised an eyebrow, while Cato let out an amused snort.

"Really?" He blinked at Cato, who just merely leaned back against the chair and stared back at him.

"Yeah, I was kind of trying...to hunt her down and kill her. But she was up this god-damned tree, so I couldn't."

I let out a slight laugh as I stared at Cato's pissed off face. "I really need to teach you how to climb trees." The image in my mind when Cato tried to climb the tree, but miserably failed and fell, was all too funny.

"Tsk." He smirked and playfully tugged on my leg in order to drag me closer to him.

"No, don't you dare-" I was cut off by my exploding fit of laughter as he tickled my sides. "Cato, Cato!"

Ms. White laughed as she watched our playful fight, while Ebon merely smirked and tried to break it up. "Alright, alright, you two. Enough."

Cato stopped tickling me but I continued to giggle with amusement.

"Third question," Ebon began. "What's the name of your sibling? It can be any sibling, if you have any brothers or sisters.

I instantly stopped giggling as I felt my heart break into pieces as I was reminded of Prim. Images of her flashed into my mind as I wondered if she was alright. I stayed silent for a few minutes before opening my mouth to speak in an uneasy tone. "Prim.." I whispered. "Her name is Prim, she's my little...sister."

Ebon stared, realizing that the subject of Prim hurt me. "Okay, that's enough questions."

"There's water in the room if you want any, okay? And Cato, just stay with her until...about 10:00, the concussion should wear off by then." Ms. White smiled at the both of us, following Ebon as the both of them left the room.

I glanced at the clock behind us as it flashed 9:30 P.M.

"So, I guess we're alone...again." Cato threw me a smirk.

"Yeah," I gently sat up against the couch in order to face him better. "Do you ever think about our homes, back in District 12 and 2?"

He frowned. "Sometimes."

"I miss...my family." I sighed, trying to avoid my face from his, trying to hold back the tears.

"Shh..." He lifted himself off the chair and onto the couch with me. "I know..I know.."

I crawled over to his side of the couch and let myself fall into his arms, as he tried to adjust himself in a laying position. We both layed on the couch as he stroked my hair with his good hand. I snuggled into his chest, carefully trying to avoid to put to much pressure on his cast that was on his bad arm.

God, I hated being so needy all the time. But I couldn't help it, he's so comforting...And, I don't know why I cry so much...

"How's your arm...?" I glanced up at him.

"It's fine," he narrowed his eyes. "Let's not talk about that, right now."

I suspiciously focused my gaze onto his. What are the nurses telling him that they're not telling me..? Is...his arm...I hope it's getting better..

"I'm sorry, Cato.." I nervously bit my lip.

He raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

"For...everything I guess," I shrugged. "For being so needy all the time, for your arm, and for getting us stuck in this District."

"Well...you are needy." He gazed up at the ceiling.

I puffed my cheeks out and playfully poked him in the stomach to show my displeasure of his response. "Okay, I'm not that needy..."

"Whatever, Firegirl." He smiled at me.

I slightly gazed down at the floor as I continued to embrace him. I got so used to him calling me "Katniss" that I almost forgot about the significant nickname that he frequently used for me..

"But, it's not your fault that we're stuck here," he replied. "You were just trying to save me from the mutts.."

"You're...a lot nicer than you were in the Games." I stared up at him.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. You comfort me...you're really nice to me now. I would've acted the way I was acting in the Games you would've chopped my head off by now." I stated.

He laughed. "Maybe it's because we're not stuck in an arena to the death anymore."

I simply shrugged.

"Or maybe it's because...-" he paused.

"What? Maybe it's because of what?" I moved away from his chest to sit up on one of the pillows.

"Nothing."

I wailed. "Cato! Tell me!"

"You're really persistent, Firegirl. You know that, right?" He smirked.

"Cato, tell me, tell me!" I held onto his good arm and gently tugged on it.

"Nah.." He cooly layed back on the armchair of the couch and rested his hands above his hand.

"I'm going to hurt you, Cato! If you don't tell me..." I playfully narrowed my eyes.

"Me? Hurt me? You and what army, Firegirl?" He grinned.

"I'll tickle you." I crossed my arms.

"I'll tickle you first." He jumped up off his position on the couch and lunged for me, tickling my sides as he grabbed me.

"No...no! No...Cato!...Stop...!" I tried to breathe between my laughter. He held me down beneath him, and as I tried to wiggle myself free from his grasp he tickled me even more.

"Okay...okay! I surrender!" I laughed out loud, trying to grab hold of his hands. As soon as he stopped, I gasped for air, my face flushed and my bangs wet from sweat.

As I realized what my position was from under him, my face flushed red with embarrassment. He was on top of me, slightly gasping as well, while I was under him with my legs around his waist.

I tried to say something but as soon as his hand came over my face, I stopped. He gently wiped away a strand of my hair and pressed his forehead against mine.

"Cato.." I suddenly whispered.

"Shh..." He spoke in a low, calm voice, that sent shivers up my spine. He gave off a soft grunt as he lowered his head towards my neck. Once he got to that sensitive, sweet, spot of mine he inhaled and placed light kisses along my collarbone.

I let out a slight moan as I embraced him and buried my face within the crook of his neck.

He paused for a few moments before taking a gasp of air. "Shit.."

I blinked open my eyes as he instantly got off me and over to the other side of the couch. As I sat up, I carefully watched as he cursed himself and pulled his hair back.

I breathed more easily now as I brought my knees up to my chest. "I'm sorry.."

I'm so stupid...! Stupid! Why did I let that happen? Why did I allow myself to react that way...? To moan...like that...Damn.

"No, it's my fault." He looked away to glance at the clock that was now flashing 10:00 P.M.

"Your concussion probably wore off by now..you should get to bed.." He sighed.

As he stood to get off from the bed and walk to the other room, I bit my lip and uneasily started to get off the couch.

"Cato.." I weakly called out.

He froze as he almost stopped to turn into the hallway.

"Stay with me...please?" I begged.

"I...better not." He turned the other way and began to walk into the darkness of the hallway.

I gave out a frustrated sigh as I sat back down in the couch, left alone in the darkness of the room.

Alone...

What did I do to make him so mad..?

* * *

><p><strong>Cato's POV<strong>

As soon as I walked into my room I leaned against one of the walls and pressed my forehead against it while resting my arms above my head.

Why the fuck did I do that..? Ugh...I-I couldn't help myself...She's just so...damn beautiful. And the way she moaned when I kissed her...it sounded like the soft ringing of bells and the smoothness of silk...I was about to lose myself.

I grunted in frustration as I slammed my fist against the wall, causing a dent to form. But that was the least of my worries now.

How can I think that way about her...! Damn me...Damn me and my sexual urges...Stupid male hormones...

She's my enemy. Remember? She's my enemy. She's just a filthy rat from District 12. How could I ever think that she was beautiful...? A career could never like a mere girl from a poor district...Damn that bitch for turning me on so much...

Once again, I slammed my fist into the wall, causing an even bigger dent to form.

I shouted in anger, silently being thankful for being in a sound-proof room. Ebon's probably gonna kill me for this dent in the wall, but I honestly don't give a shit.

I grunted in frustration as I punched a nearby pillow. I let myself fall into the mattress and sigh.

I can't fall for her...

I can't.

* * *

><p><strong>Katniss POV<strong>

I slowly fluttered my eyes open as I discovered lights being turned on across the room.

"Aww sweetie, I didn't know you had slept on the couch. You could've slept in your room, I had it all made." I heard Ms. White's apolegetic voice.

"It's okay," I opened one eye and closed the other as I sat up and yawned. "I felt like sleeping on the couch."

"Are you feeling alright? You look a bit red.." Ms. White placed her hand upon my forehead.

I blushed even more. I was remembering what happened last night...how could it happen...? It can't-me and Cato can't be...He hates me! He's suppossed to hate me. But the way he kissed my neck...and the way his muscles flexed when he bent down to kiss me..Cato's just...

God, why does he have to be so gorgeous?

"I'm fine." I blink at her, trying to bite my lip and look innocent.

She raised an eyebrow. "Well, alright.."

I smiled at her while she began to walk towards the other room. As she walked out, I sighed and sat up against the couch.

"Oww.." I held my head as it thumped with pain. Probably from the concussion I had last night.

However, I instantly lifted my head up as I saw Cato enter the room.

"Hey." I greeted.

He ignored me, continuing to walk across the room.

I glared. "Okay...don't say hi, then..."

He continued to ignore me.

"Cato-are you mad? If it's something I did-then I'm...I'm sorry!"

He let out an annoyed grunt as he stopped to stare at the wall. "Shut up, Firegirl."

"Why...what did I do?" I helplessly stared.

"Just...don't talk to me."

"Why not? Why are you so such a jerk..!" I shouted. I don't get it, why was he so mad? He was fine yesterday...He was actually nice...What did I do to get him so angry? Was it because of that little "incident" last night?

"Because careers don't talk to filthy rats like you, that's why." He threw me a cold smirk over his shoulder.

"I hate you...I hate you! I don't even know why I was ever nice to you!" I slightly rose up on the couch, my blood boiling with anger.

"You're a coward. All you District 12 rats are cowards. Just like you're stupid little sister...what's her name..? Prim?" He sneered her name out, this time turning to face me.

My blood stopped cold, any my heart began to drop and break into tiny little pieces. How could he..?

"Don't you dare-talk about my sister..." I glared at him with hatred, sitting up off the couch.

"I just did-what are you gonna do about it, Firegirl? Nothing, because you're weak. Fucking weak. Just like Loverboy."

"You're the weak one. You're the one who let Clove die. Or did you let her die because you were tired of dealing with her bullshit? You probably betrayed her, just like the other careers. You probably wanted her to die." I spat, wondering if I went too far. But this time, I didn't care.

"What did you say...?" He lowered his head, replying in a somewhat demonic voice.

I breathed in a gulp of air.

"What did you say, you bitch?" He growled at me, his eyes glinting with psychotic rage.

I opened my mouth to speak but I was interrupted by him charging at me and slamming me against the wall with his hand around my neck.

I gasped, and weakly tried to pry his fingers around my neck.

"I should kill you..for that," he narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip around my neck.

I choked out and tried to cough, but instead nothing came out.

"Cato..." I helplessly stared at him with frightened eyes.

He slammed my head against the wall, once again. "Shut up! Just shut the fuck up!"

I yelped as my head hit the wall and made a large "BAM." My vision began to darken from the lack of air, and my world began to spin.

"Please..." I managed to croak.

He sighed and threw me on the floor, finally releasing my throat. I gasped for air and held my aching throat as I glanced up at Cato, who was staring down at me with cold eyes. I let out a small groan as I weakly lay on the floor.

"If you ever...talk about Clove like that again," he bent down to my level to whisper in my ear. "I won't hold back. I will kill you. Get it? You little filth."

The way he menacingly spat into my ear, sent shudders into my entire body.

"Hey! Hey! What the hell just happened..!" Ebon rushed into the room in that moment, along with Mason who was standing behind him.

"Nothing." Cato sat up, his glare not being taken off mine, and began to walk the other way.

I shakily sat up and leaned against the wall with my gaze rested on the floor. Ebon glared at Cato, while Mason rushed to my side.

"Katniss-Katniss, what happened?" He gently shook me.

I cried out and leaned against his shoulder, letting sobs run down my face. "I'm sorry..! I'm sorry! It's my fault...My fault!"

"Cato!" Ebon furiously yelled out, following him out of the room.

"No...no, it's not his fault...It's not his fault!" I called out.

Mason held me and began to stroke my shoulder as I lay on his lap. "Shh...it's okay..it's okay..Just tell me what happened.."

"It-it was my fault. I told him that it was his fault Clove died...Oh god, I'm terrible.." I stuttered, trying to breathe easily and stop the tears from coming down.

Mason gasped and softly touched my neck. "Oh geez, Katniss..Your neck! It's all red."

"I don't care! I'm horrible..! Horrible!" I held my head in utter misery.

"Katniss, look what he did to you. He should be the one to say sorry. He shouldn't have attacked you like that."

I remained silent, my face beginning to dry of any tears.

"Why don't we go out and get some fresh air? It's probably the best thing to do right now." He suggested.

I nodded, continuing to remain silent as he helped me off the floor. I sighed, trying to calm myself as I followed Mason outside, away from Cato, away from the hospital, away from any problems.

"Lets go to the park, or something. Alright?" Mason smiled at me.

I shrugged. "Doesn't really matter."

"Hey, cheer up." He reached for my chin and held it up, forcing me to look into his eyes. "Maybe we can get some ice cream later."

I managed a weak smile. "Okay. Thanks, Mason..." I gave him a small hug, which seemed to surprise him, but nevertheless, he hugged me back.

I just wanted to forget about everything right now.

District 12. My friends. My family. Gale and Peeta. And Cato.

* * *

><p><strong>Cato's POV<strong>

I gave out an annoyed grunt of displeasure as Ebon followed me around like a lap-dog and shouted out things I couldn't even understand. But mainly, they were just a series of curses and insults.

That damn Katniss...

I should've killed her, for what she said...

How dare she, how fucking dare she. That I let Clove die? Ha. I begged, begged for her to stay with me while she was dying in my arms. I nearly cried, I nearly screamed in sadness, anger, hate, and rage directed to Thresh. I never wanted her to die. I never would betray her. What does that lowlife Firegirl know about anything? About me, about my life. She knows nothing.

I was going to kill her, I was about to throttle her. But her eyes...her eyes when she looked at me in fear..

It nearly broke me...

Why? Why! I never hesitated to kill someone before. But her...that's a different story...

"Cato! Are you listening to me?" Ebon's furious shout interrupted me from my thoughts.

Ha. Ha. Ebon's screaming and frustration in an attempt to get my attention was hilarious.

"What? What do you want?" I whipped around to glare in his face.

"What the hell happened back there? What did you do to her? She was on the floor-gasping for air!" He narrowed his eyes.

I lowered my gaze onto the floor. "I choked her. I choked her, alright? I should've killed her."

"Why? What did she do that was so horrible, that you decided to nearly kill her over it, huh?"

I let out a small, cold chuckle. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me." Ebon pushed a chair out, in an effort to get me to sit down and talk.

"I don't feel like telling you the whole story." I sighed, trying to walk the other way without being blocked by Ebon.

"Don't you dare walk the other way, Cato." I heard him growl behind me.

"You want to know why I hate Firegirl so much? Fine. But you have to do something, first." I stopped to cross my arms.

Ebon leaned against the wall. "Tell me."

I avoided his gaze as a determined smirk grew upon my face.

"Take me...to the training room."

* * *

><p><strong>Here you go guys! A longer chapter! I was going to make it longer, but I decided to just update the next chapter tomorrow or Sunday. Well, I hope you like it. As you can see, there's a lot of drama in this chapter and there's gonna be even MORE drama in the next chapter. You'll see ;) Review, guys! And thank youzz! :D<strong>


	14. Lovely Pains

**Cato's POV**

I must admit, the Training room was pretty impressive. Once I got Ebon to suck up and take me outside of the hospital and lead me here, I was in awe of everything. The whole District was huge-I mean, District 2 is pretty big, but this District had way more sight-seeing. And the training room, damn. I thought the training back in District 2 was impressive-but this, a fighting arena in a dome just couldn't get any better. I wonder why the government didn't find District 13 before and had them share their weapons and training devices with District 2..It would've been amazing, seriously. The other tributes in the Games wouldn't stand a chance against us.

"Are you impressed?" Ebon asked me, his eyebrow raised.

"Definitely." I leaned against the wall, which was inside a room over-looking the arena.

"Wait here, I want to have a word with the other elites first." Ebon opened a door, which led to the arena downstairs.

"Tell them I want to fight them, unless they're too scared of course.." I smirked.

Ebon blinked at me, probably wondering if I was still sane. "Yeah."

As he proceeded to descend down the steps, I averted my cold brown gaze over towards a group of kids-probably elites, all huddled in the corner of the room.

Some stared at me in freight, but others stared at me with a blood-thirsty look on their face, like they were determined...probably to fight me.

"Tsk." I ignored them, my gaze wavering towards the door that Ebon went through.

"I hope you're as strong as you look.." One of them spoke, the one that was staring at me with his determined gaze. "You have some guts to come here and face us."

"Watch that mouth of yours..." I glared at him. He looked about 17 or 18, maybe my age, but I had a feeling I was a little bit older than him. His hair was a messy brown, and freckles covered his face.

"Or what?" He grinned.

"Or I might have to rip it out," I stepped closer towards him. "I hope you fight as good as you talk."

"I'll rip you to shreds, outsider. I know where you're from. You're from District 2, those little conceded morons who do whatever the government tells them to do. You're nothing but their lap-dogs." He flashed me a cold stare, while his body was inching closer to mine.

"Says the District who has been hidden from the government for centuries, hiding, living in the sewers underground. It's no wonder why they deserted you. If you're all like this-just a bunch of yapping fuckers who no one wants. What's it feel like? To not be wanted? To be from the District who no one cared about or no one cared to find?"

I let out a miserable chuckle. "You sad, sad, little-"

My words were interrupted by a fist that was sent flying towards my face, which I instantly dodged by seconds.

"Shut up! Shut the hell up! You don't know anything!" He screamed at me, and continued to furiously throw sloppy punches at me, which I easily dodged.

"Wow. I really hope the rest of the elites aren't as suckish as this.." I raised an eyebrow.

"I'll kill you! I'll KILL you! Just wait-" He furiously spat into my face just as Ebon came walking back upstairs.

"What's going on here?" Ebon asked the both of us, his glare being placed on mine.

"Don't ask me, ask this moron right here who couldn't keep his fat mouth shut." I crossed my arms, just waiting for the fireworks to blow off this kid.

"I want to be the first one who faces him, alright?" He managed to ignore me, but not without effort. His furious gaze averted towards Ebon.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, kid. Keep dreaming." I muttered under my breath.

"Alright. Just try to cool off, will ya? I'm going to have a talk with our little friend here." Ebon dismissed the boy, who steamed off towards the other direction.

"I really need to keep a leash on you. Or better yet-a muzzle," Ebon crossed his arms and glared at me.

"You can try." I glared back at him, shrugging.

"I'm..surprised. Did you block all of his punches? He's not out best, but he's definitely advanced for his age group. He is considerably ranked among our top elites."

"You're joking." I blinked, clearly not impressed. "He punched like a six year old."

"Maybe it was because his rage and frustration towards you caught him of guard. He tends to do that-it's his biggest flaw," suggested Ebon.

"Well, whatever. You can spout that bullcrap all you want to me, but I think these elites are seriously overestimated." I silently walked towards the door, proceeding down the steps and into the arena.

"Wait, Cato." Ebon followed me, trying to persuade me to stop.

Once I entered the arena, I headed over to the weapon rack.

"Cato, wait for a second before you do something stupid. Your arm is still in really bad shape, if you put even the smallest amount of stress on it.."

I ignored him and grabbed a spear from the weapon rack. It was a decent spear, a steel one, similiar to the one I used in the Games.

I barely noticed the other elites training around the arena as I adjusted my grip onto the spear and took a couple steps back.

I hunched my shoulder backwards and leaped forward onto my left foot, releasing the spear and sending it flying towards a far away target, which so happened to be in front of the elites.

Once the spear hit the target in the middle, the elites gasped and whipped around to stare at me in awe.

I let out a breath of air as I stepped back and smirked, satisfied with my performance.

A certain redhead, stood back and stared at me, a flirtatious smile on her face. She was pretty, I had to admit.

She walked towards me, with a few other elites following behind her. She had a small bruise above her left eye, but otherwise, I just payed attention to her looks.

"Who's this?" She asked Ebon, but continued to smile at me. I smirked back.

"This is Cato. Cato, this is Jana." He merely replied.

I laughed. "Was she the one that Katniss lost to?"

"Yeah."

Jana frowned. "You know her? You know that girl? Tell her, that next time she won't be so lucky."

I crossed my arms. "Yeah, I know her. We're not exactly talking, though. She recently pissed me off."

Jana chuckled. "I think you and me will get along just fine. Are you joining the elites? You should. That move you pulled right now was unbelievable."

"Yeah?" I raised an eyebrow, loving the fact that the elites were glorifying me.

"I don't know if he's joining the elites. He's not from this District, and his arm needs some time to heal," spoke Ebon.

Jana gasped, stepping closer towards me. "What happened?" She leaned against my side, comfortingly touching the cast on my arm in an attempt to flirt with me.

"The Games." I responded.

"Oh." She blinked.

The announcements boomed across the whole arena, speaking in a robotic voice. "Next opponents!"

In that second, the boy I was arguing with earlier, came running down. He pointed at me, his eyes fixed at me that screamed "Kill!"

"That's Ejay." Jana stared at me. "He's really good, be careful."

"I'll destroy him." I told her, like it was the easiest thing in the world.

"In your dreams, District 2 know-it-all." Ejay sneered, popping up a sword from the weapon rack and walking into the arena battle field.

I cracked my knuckles on my good arm while Ebon pulled me aside for some advice.

"Don't get too cocky, alright? Ejay is seriously good. If you even turn your back for a second-"

I waved him off. "Yeah, yeah."

"Cato.." Ebon warned, but sighed once he realized warning me was a lost cause. He headed up the steps along with the rest of the elites.

I picked up a sword from the weapon rack and stepped in front of Ejay. "I hope you're ready to get your ass kicked." I merely grunted as I spun around the sword in my hands. Anger, it's his weakest flaw. This will be easy. All I have to do is get him upset and it's an easy win for me.

However, he merely chuckled. "You so sure that your gonna win, aren't you?"

I ignored him as I heard Ebon shout from above. "You guys ready?"

"You bet." Ejay glared daggers at me.

"Let's get this over with." I smirked.

As soon as the announcements boomed, "GO!" I lunged forward and swung my sword at his side, but was instantly surprised when I found out he dodged it.

Shit.

I dodged a punch from him and kicked him at his feet so his legs would give off. He fell, with his sword still in hand and jumped up in the air as I got ready to throw another kick at him. He blocked my kick with his hands and punched me in the stomach.

I winced, and grabbed his entire body to throw over my shoulder. Once he flipped over and landed on the floor, I kicked his side.

He coughed and blocked my kick with his hands again, lifting himself up.

He swung his sword at me, but I blocked it with my sword. For minutes, we sparred and heard the "cling" of the swords each time they collided with each other. He aimed for my cheek, but I blocked it again with my sword. I have to hand it to him, he's pretty good at sword-fighting. It's almost impossible to hit him...

Once I got caught of guard he lunged forward and sliced my cheek. I gave out a surprised grunt and caught the sword in my mouth once he lunged again. Grabbing the sword and throwing it on the floor, I roundhouse kicked him backwards, which sent him flying back on the floor.

I kicked his sword away to make sure it was well out of his reach and brought my foot down on his stomach which sent the air flying out from his lungs.

"Ughh!" He groaned, and managed to dodge my other kick, again.

I cursed in frustration, and grabbed his head to smack it hard on the floor.

He moaned and wiped away the blood from his face as he jumped back on his feet once again. He blocked my punches as I blocked his, as we punched at each other for another few minutes.

I kicked his feet again, which knocked him back onto the floor.

He's not going to get back up this time...

I lunged forward and held him on the floor while I furiously punched his face, watching as blood poured out and landed on my shirt. I punched him again, ignoring his moans and screams.

"Stop! Cato, stop! That's enough!" I heard Ebon shout from above.

I let out a satisfied smirk as I stopped punching his face. "Had enough, yet?"

He coughed out blood and to my surprise, lunged forward and punched me in the face.

An exploding pain surged through my face as I held it in rage. "You little..shit." I punched him in the stomach as he grabbed my arm and pulled it aside.

What the-

I furiously looked down at him as he grabbed a hold of my cast on my bad arm.

"Now you'll see what District 13 is made of.." As I frantically tried to pull myself away from him he grabbed my bad arm, twisted it, and smacked it with a great amount of force onto the floor.

Unbelievable pain shot through my entire arm as I screamed my lungs out. I was now on the floor, but had rolled away, clutching my arm in misery.

"Ahh..." I moaned and screamed again. Oh god...it hurts...

That fucker..

I screamed "bloody murder" as I wriggled on the floor, coughing out blood from the pain.

I sat up on the floor and bent down on my knees as I tried to breathe for air and clutch my arm at the same time. Most of the cast had fallen out, as it bled against my side. It was horrible to look at, it looked like some kind of animal that got run over several times. It was red and bloody, the muscle and bone sticking out, it had no skin on it whatsoever.

I moaned out in pain again as blood dripped from my face. I murderously stared at Ejay, who was now probably passed out on the floor by now. I'm going to kill him...I'll kill him.

However, as I tried to crawl forward in an effort to throttle the life out of him, I was stopped by Ebon who held my shoulders back.

Several medics rushed to Ejay's side and pulled him onto a trolley bed. Some rushed towards me, to examine my arm.

I screamed in frustration and in pain. "Let me go..damn it! We're not finished...I'm going to kill him..."

Ebon shushed me. "Let it go, Cato. Ejay's passed out, and you're seriously injured. The fight's over."

I winced as several of the medics lifted up my arm and tried to put bandages around it. "Ahh..-no..god,no. It hurts.." I groaned.

"I know, I know." Ebon spoke in a more calmer tone. He gently lifted me up and put my arm around his shoulder in order to support me to walk.

I panted, as every step I took was severely painful for my arm. I gave out a few grunts and moans as I dropped my head to stare at the floor. I heard blood drop onto the floor as Ebon led me towards a nearby chair.

As soon as he set me down onto the chair, I leaned back and winced. I let out a series of moans as I turned the other way, away from the medics.

"Oh my god..!" I heard Jana shout, who came running my way. "Are you okay?"

I merely ignored her and grunted as a response.

"Take his shirt off." Ebon impatiently told the medics, who stepped towards me and gently slipped my shirt off. Once they pulled my bloody shirt away, they continued to bandage my arm to try to recreate the cast.

Jana blushed when they took off my shirt, probably in awe of my abs, but instantly turned in horror to stare at my bloody arm.

"The cast will take a while to make, this is the only thing we can use right now." One of the medics explained.

Ebon rested his hand on my shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Try to hold on a bit longer, Cato."

"Yeah, sure..." I winced and stared at the ceiling, trying to stare at everything but my arm. "Ughh..."

"Help me take him back to the hospital," spoke Ebon to the other medics.

* * *

><p><strong>Katniss POV<strong>

I playfully kicked at a nearby pebble as me and Mason walked back to the hospital. The ice cream was delicious. Although, it was a lot different from the ice cream back at the bakery shop in District 12. Peeta and his Dad made the best ice cream...

"So, was the ice cream good?" Mason smiled at me.

I smiled back. "Yes, really good."

I noticed he made in attempt to hold my hand, but he suddenly wavered it away once we stepped in front of the hospital entrance.

"Well, I would love to stay, but I got work to do back at the mechanical shop," he explained, almost depressed that he was leaving me.

"Okay, Mason. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?" I stopped to give him a hug.

He hugged me back. "Yeah."

Before I walked inside the hospital, I waved as he waved back.

He started to walk backwards and wave at the same time, and clumsily nearly tripped backwards.

I giggled, while he merely gave me a sheepish grin.

When I walked into the hospital, I stopped for a moment to lean against the wall. Mason's really nice..I always have so much fun with him..Sort of like I did with Gale and Peeta.

I miss them so much...

Sometimes I feel guilty. That I'm over here eating perfectly normal, and living well, while they're over there grieving, probably starving, miserable...

I shut my eyes. No...I just can't afford to think like that...

They're happy.

They must be happy.

I mean, Peeta's rich now. He won the Games. He could do whatever he wants now.

I hope he forgets about me...I hope everyone forgets about me, for their sake.

As I continued to walk down the hallway, I'm instantly greeted by Ms. White, who's currently sitting at the table finishing paper work like always.

"Hello, Katniss." She smiles.

"Hi, Ms. White." I sit down next to her, reaching out for a loaf of bread that was sitting in a basket on the table. The hospital kind of feels like home now, even if I've only been here for several weeks.

So...I've been "dead" for several weeks now, according to all the other districts.

"How have you been?" I decide to ask.

She sets her paperwork aside and sips from a glass of water that was sitting next to her. "Oh, I'm fine. The day's just been busy, as always. A new patient came in just an hour ago."

I blinked. That would explain why the room was so empty, and why the nurses were running around.

"Who's the new patient?" I took a bite from the loaf of bread.

"Oh, this poor young individual who got beaten up bad from a fight in the Training room. His face was nearly unrecognizable, it was covered in blood and bruises. Surprising too, I've seen him train before, and he's not an easy one to defeat."

I wince, just picturing his face. I know how brutal those fights could be, I would know. Stupid Jana...

I look around the room, trying to see if I could find Cato anywhere. But, I instantly stop and narrow my eyes.

Why do I even bother...?

He hates me, anyway. He doesn't want me to be around him.

I sigh, not even bothering to ask Ms. White where he is. He'll show up. He always does.

I lifted myself off the chair and headed into the TV room, where I saw several nurses huddled, staring in horror at the TV.

"Oh my gosh, Jean..Come have a look at this.." One of the nurses spoke, obviously referring to Ms. White.

So Ms. White's name is Jean?

Interesting.

I took another bite from the loaf of bread as Ms. White willingly approached the room to stare at the TV.

"Oh my goodness." She held her hands over her mouth.

Once they turned the volume up, I could make out the words "District 12" and President Snow's voice.

Curiously, I walked inside the room to stare up at the TV.

I wonder what that idiot President Snow is talking about...and why it's involved with District 12..I never trusted him, nope. The minute I spoke to him, I knew he was bad news.

As soon as I looked up at the TV, I saw his face as he said these words, "Let this be a warning to you District 12, if you think you can get away with illegal hunting."

I froze. I used to hunt...but that would mean...No, it couldn't be. He probably caught someone else..

As President Snow's face faded away from the screen, this boy, about my age was getting whipped alive. His screams and moans were too much to bear, but once I heard those screams...those screams that sounded so familiar. It could only come from one person...

My blood ran cold and my world began to spin.

No...Oh my god, no.

That boy was Gale...

I let out a ill-piercing scream that stunned all of the nurses inside the room.

"NO!" I screamed again as several nurses tried to comfort me and see what was wrong.

"Katniss, what's wrong? Look at me, what's wrong?" Ms. White frantically asked.

"NO! I have to save him! I have to go! We have to save him...! Oh god, someone PLEASE help him!" I helplessly fell to the floor, wildly sobbing.

"Katniss, who is he? Who is that boy?"

"Gale! My best friend! Oh my god...please no...please..." I trembled, trying my best to keep my gaze away from the TV, and trying to ignore his begs and screams.

The nurses turned off the TV and tried to help me up from the floor.

"Katniss, relax..there's nothing we can do-"

I interrupted Ms. White by screaming in her face. "Shut up! I have to go save him!" I thrashed around, purposely knocking back the nurses who had a hold of me. I stood up and ran out of the room, trying to avoid any nurses that came my way.

Hold on, Gale. I'm coming. I don't care if I have to take on the entire elites, I will get out of this District...

Even if it's the last thing I do...

"Katniss!"

I ignored Ms. White's shouts and screamed as other nurses grabbed a hold of me and tried to reason with me.

"Let me go! Let me go!" I kicked and punched.

As I heard the door open from outside, I heard Ms. White gasp in relief. "Ebon!" She called.

Before I had time to look up, I was lifted up and put on someone's muscular shoulder. Expecting it was Ebon, I was going to start to kick but then I figured out it wasn't Ebon who carried me.

It was Cato...

"Cato..!" Ebon warned, like he was worried. Worried for what...?

I furiously punched his back as he carried me across the room. "Let me go! I hate you-I hate you!" I tried to kick at his stomach.

"I know.." He grunted, and I felt him wince. Was I really hurting him...?

But thinking about Gale, I could hardly care less. "Put me down...Put me DOWN! Cato..." I warned, but as soon as I finished ranting, he stepped inside a nearby room and shut the door behind us, probably locking it.

He pulled me off his shoulder and roughly-but gently, threw me on the floor.

I crawled backwards until my back hit the wall. I stared at him, confused and angry at the same time as he groaned in pain and leaned against a wall.

"Cato.." I called, more calmly this time.

He panted and clutched at his bad arm, which was bleeding and wrapped in bandages.

"Oh my god, your arm.." I weakly stared at it.

"Don't state the obvious, Fire girl.." He managed to reply, but not before letting out another groan and miserably staring at the floor.

"What happened?" I asked, trying to sit up from the floor.

He winced. "Training room.."

I thought back to when Ms. White told me about the new patient who was severly injured. Did Cato do that...? My eyes suddenly began to water again as I realized I must've hurt him even worse when I punched and kicked at him.

"Oh..Cato..I'm sorry..! I'm so sorry!" I buried my face into my hands.

"It's..not your fault. Shh...don't-cry." He began to walk forwards, but not before I nearly fell into his arms and hugged him.

We both leaned against the wall as I buried my face into his shoulder. I let out shaky breaths as I rested my forehead against his.

"Gale-" I began, but he interrupted me.

"Yeah, I know. I saw the TV. And you...freaking out," he replied with a grunt.

"We have to get out of here..we have to.." I stared into his eyes.

"We will..." He sighed, trying clutch his arm and hold me at the same time.

"I'm sorry..." I choked out.

"Shh...it's alright...it's okay.." He tightened his grip on me as he reassuringly pressed his forehead further against mine.

"Cato.." I breathed, but I was interrupted by his lips crashing onto mine. I savored the kiss as I breathed and let tears fall down my face. Both tears and blood came colliding with one other as we continued to kiss each other...hold each other...comfort each other...

I felt like I was in heaven and in hell at the same time.

As our lips parted, we both panted for air and continued to press against each others foreheads.

He let out another painful grunt emitted with a groan.

I carefully stroked his cheek and closed my eyes, beginning to hum a lullaby I knew from when I was little.

"Katniss..." He breathed my name.

That to me, was like the chime of wedding bells in the morning.

I continued to stroke his cheek as I held onto him.

"We're going to get out of this District.." I told him, opening my eyes to stare at him once again.

We have to...

We will.

* * *

><p><strong>Here's the next chapter as promised! :) And you also got that kiss that you always wanted! An extra special present since it was Valentines Day. This one is actually longer than the last one, oops. Hehe ^.^ I hope you guys like this chapter, since there's a lot more drama in this chapter than the last one. Thank you and REVIEW! :D <strong>


	15. Angry Nightmares

**Katniss POV**

I silently sit on Cato's lap and watch as the nurses examine his disabled arm. Every single time he would wince, I would reassuringly place my head against his chest and nuzzle against it. He would stroke my hair in return.

"Is-Is it going to heal?" I bite my lip, and gave a worried glance towards Ebon. Ms. White was sitting next to him as well, but I was trying my best to ignore her.

I don't trust her. The only ones I trust right now are Cato and Ebon. I know Mason's a nice guy, but sometimes I don't even think I can fully trust him yet.

Ebon merely sighs in defeat. His eyes seem more stressed and tired; not his usual serious expression. "I really don't know, Katniss."

"Just..don't worry about it." Cato stares at me, trying to make his eyes seem reassuring; but all I saw was frustration inside his beautiful light brown gaze.

I heave a shaky sigh, resting my head against his chest once again.

This is all my fault. I should've stopped him from going into the Training Room; all it did was nearly kill his opponent and severely injure his already bad arm. Ejay-the guy's name was. I heard his agonizing moans from across the hallway a little while ago. I feel so sorry for him, it makes my hear ache to hear those painful moans..

"Why did you have to go in that stupid Training Room? Look what it did to you; you're arm's even worse than it was before!" I angrily protest, removing my hands from Cato's waist and onto my forehead.

"Katniss," Ebon warns.

Cato huffs, and re-positions himself on the couch so I was now off his lap. "Don't tell me what to do, Fire Girl. It's not my fault that asshole decided to grab my bad arm and damage it."

I move away from him and sit on the opposite side of the couch. "Well, what did you expect? You nearly killed him!"

"I should've killed him," Cato narrows his eyes.

I helplessly silence myself. It was no use in arguing with Cato, he would just keep on arguing forever, unless he killed you first. Arguing with Cato was exactly like playing with fire.

"Will you two just sit back for once, and shut the fuck up?" Ebon's furious tone of voice surprised me.

I blink at him, while Cato just glares daggers at him. Oh, here we go again...

"Don't tell me what to do." Cato stands up from the couch and stood over him, in order to make himself look more dominate.

"Sit down, kid. Before you hurt yourself even worse." Ebon stood up as well, not as scary-looking as Cato, but way more serious and a not-to-be-messed with expression.

As soon as I notice Cato's fatal expression that he puts on every time he's about to murder someone, I jump off the couch and throw myself in the way so he wouldn't lash out at Ebon.

"Cato, stop." I silently please, gazing up at his bloodthirsty glare. I try putting my hand on his arm to reassure him.

He lets out a frustrated growl at the both of us, before angrily shoving my arm away and stomping over towards the hallway.

Once he leaves, I helplessly stare up at Ebon who keeps his gaze away.

"Look, look what he does? Why can't he just get along with us-why is he always so mad?" I protest, shaking my head in frustration, anger, and sadness.

"I don't know Katniss," Ebon began.

"I hate all of this." I interrupt, "I hate it. I hate it! Everything's my fault. Gale's probably dead because of me! And Cato's arm is worse; because of me!"

"Katniss, no. It's not your fault," He seethes.

"I just want to get away," I try to ignore Ebon's calls and all the nurses passing by me as I left the room, walking through the hallway and into my room.

I lock myself in, and make my way onto the bed where I self-consciously curl up into a ball and hold onto a pillow, like some small child. I cry into the pillow and curse District 13 and everyone in it.

Crazy, but sometimes I wish I were back in the Games. Everything was back to the way it was, back then. Of course, Cato would've hated me even worse then, but it's not like he doesn't still hate me now-right? At least I would've been with Peeta, sweet-funny-handsome, Peeta..

And if I wouldn't have fallen into that hole, me and Peeta would've been the winners. I could've came back home, back into the arms of Prim, my mother, and; Gale.

But if I didn't fall into that hole, Cato would've died. And I would have never established the roller coaster relationship I have now with him.

I give out a frustrated moan into the pillow as I toss against the bed.

I just want to be back home. If I was home, I would've saved Gale from being whipped; I would've taken him to my mother to be cared for.

Could've.

Would've.

Didn't.

Now, it doesn't matter because he's probably dead anyway.

I let out a strangled, but muffled cry against the pillow as I bury my face into it. A sorry isn't enough, I know. I hate that I'm so helpless right now, Gale. I hate that I don't know if you're alive or dead.

I miss everyone back at home right now; heck, I even miss my ugly Buttercup. He better be keeping Prim happy, for the meantime that I'm gone.

As I lay there, I think about my memories back at District 12, and how much I miss them even if they weren't the greatest all the time. Trying to avoid starvation every day of my life; god, I miss those.

I also think about my mother, Prim, Gale, Peeta;

And that hideous cat of mine, Buttercup.

* * *

><p><strong>Cato's POV<strong>

That idiot, Katniss. I try to be nice to her, but all she does is complain and blame me for everything wrong in her life. If she feels that way then why doesn't she just leave me? I never wanted this-relationship with her. She should've just left me alone. We should've just stayed enemies, that's the way it's supposed to be.

It's not always what she wants. It's what I want to. Why can't she just understand that?

This District 12 rat, I should've just killed her in the Games.

She's...tearing me apart.

My attraction towards her is like a magnet, god damn. Why can't I resist her?

I need, to kill her.

I have to get rid of her, somehow.

Or else, I'm going to fall for her; hard.

And that can't happen.

It's impossible to be with her. What will my parents think? Especially my dad, he'll chop my head off once he finds out that I'm actually starting to like this stupid girl from a mere poor District, such as District 12.

My parents...

Damn, I almost forgot about them. I've been so wrapped up in these District 13 problems I haven't even thought about my family and friends back home. They probably miss me.

And June, my little sister. I wonder how she is? I promised her I would come back to her-I promised I would teach her those fighting moves I learned from my trainer. And that's a promise I'm gonna keep. I'm going to get back to District 2, whatever it takes.

"Fuck." I lean my head against one of the walls, trying to keep my face from exploding with anger and tears of sorrow.

My whole life is ruined.

I stare at my bad arm, which seems to be no where better at all. Actually, it's even worse now. Katniss had a point.

They're going to cut it off. I know it. They try and act like everything's going to be okay, but I'm not a moron. I know my arm is getting worse, and worse. I'm going to be disabled for the rest of my life.

I can't keep June's promise. I can't train anyone, with a stub for an arm.

I punch the wall and let out a frustrated groan, barely even noticing as Ebon walks into the room.

I try to ignore his gaze.

"Well, as much as I love seeing you destroy all the walls in the hospital; which, by the way we need to talk about the wall in your room that you recently destroyed-"

I shrug, expressing my "I don't give a shit" attitude.

"I'm not here to talk about that. It's you and Katniss." Ebon explains.

"I don't care about her." I reply, removing my head from off the wall to stand in a more up-right position.

"Oh, really? Then why do you always comfort her when she cries? You care about her, Cato. Your just too stubborn to admit it."

"Shut up." I clench my fists. "I hate her, I don't care about her."

"Alright, Cato." Ebon sighs at me, obviously giving up the argument.

As I move towards the couch, Ebon says something else that surprises me.

"Also, there's another reason why I came to talk to you. Someone's here. She came to visit you."

I blink, and thoughtfully stare up at the ceiling. Come to visit me? What? -Oh.

I raise an eyebrow at Ebon. "Jana? That elite girl?"

He smiles. "Yup."

"Uh," I curiously walk out of the room and discover Jana, sitting at the table talking with Ms. White. She seems rather happy. Her natural red hair seemingly in a bright glow, her face gleaming with happiness.

Well at least someone's happy in this damn District.

I scratch the back of my head, confused into why she might be here. But nevertheless, I walk towards the table with Ebon following close behind me.

As soon as she sees me, she blushes. Probably because I don't have a shirt on. I should really stop doing that. But hey, it's not my fault that I like to show off my abs.

"Hey Cato, um-how's your arm?" Jana instantly asks, in order to hide her blush from me.

"It's been better." I shrug, and stare it it.

Literally.

It looked like roadkill before they wrapped it around with bandages.

"Well, I came here because the elites and I are going out tonight, and I was wondering- well, we were were wondering, if you would like to come with us? We're just gonna hang out, maybe go to the movies, or something." She hesitantly asks, but manages to keep her bright smile.

"Sure, why not?" I stare at Ebon, who merely gives me a nod of approval.

"Cool!" Jana beams. "We're leaving right now, so I'll wait for you to get ready."

I stare down at my chest. Yeah, she probably means by "getting ready" I should throw on a shirt, first.

"Alright, I'll be back in a few minutes." I walk past Ebon and head towards my room.

Hanging out with the elites, huh? This should be fun. I have a feeling that I'm gonna be hanging out with them a lot more often, because why not?

I'm going to join the elites.

* * *

><p><strong>Katniss POV<strong>

I silently unlock the door to my room and step outside, absent mindedly avoiding any nurses that came my way through the hallway. It was kind of a habit now.

I ignore the moans of patients and beeps of IV machines across the hallway as I make my way towards the tables. At first, it was sort of scary listening to all those patients practically dying. It gave me nightmares. But, I got over it.

I see Ebon and surprisingly, Boggs, talking to each other on the table. Both of them stare up at me as I open my mouth to say something.

"Wow, you've been locked in that room for a few hours now. But, let me guess, you want to know where Cato is?" asks Ebon.

I'm hesitant to reply. I wish it weren't true. I wish I wasn't looking for Cato. I thought of making some lie that I was actually asking him for a drink of water or something, but he'd probably see right through my lie. I was never a good liar.

"Yeah." I miserably sigh.

"He went out with Jana and the other elites." Ebon explained, gazing into my eyes and figuring that I would be rather upset about this news.

Well I was.

I give out another sigh, this time a more frustrated one. "He-he did? Why?" I croak, feeling my heart being torn into pieces.

He basically left me here, to go hang out with little miss Jana. Left me, when he knew I was suffering.

I try to keep myself from exploding in anger by biting my lip.

"Well, it was a last minute thing. Jana came and asked him if he wanted to go, and he said yes."

I stare at the floor, picturing my heart fluttering down and turning into a black pit of nothing.

"Katniss," Ebon tries to reassure me.

"I'm fine." I stare up at him and give off a fake smile. "It's okay, I don't care." I softly laugh, and slowly walk the other way back into the hallway.

"Oh, Katniss, you're not going to back into that room and sulk all night, are you?" Ebon raises an eyebrow at me.

I cross my arms. "As a matter of fact, I am."

I hear Boggs chuckle.

"Katniss, come here." Ebon sighs, trying to make a grab for me, but I quickly dodge it.

"It's okay, Ebon. It's okay, I'll be fine. Just when Cato gets back, tell him that he's a jerk face." I say in a sing-song voice, and quickly enter the darkness of the hallway.

But as soon as I'm out of sight, I frown and begin to sniffle.

I hate you, Cato.

I hate you, I really do.

But, I still love you.

If that even makes sense.

I lean against the wall for support as I walk back to my room. However, I come to a sudden halt as I hear commotion in one particular room. I heard Ms. White's voice and another woman's voice that didn't sound familiar. Although, it did belong to a middle-aged woman.

I press myself close to the closed door of the room, trying to figure out who Ms. White might be talking to. It was probably a ptient. The middle-aged woman sounded deeply distressed and worried.

I hesitantly place my hand against the knob on the door and wince as I begin to turn it. Why am I even going in here? Because I'm curious, that's why.

I slowly open the door and peek my head inside, staring at Ms. White, the woman, and the patient who just came in-what's his name? Oh yeah, the one who Cato fought. Ejay. The woman must be his mother, then.

I walk inside the room and silently close the door behind me, staring into the eyes of Ms. White.

"Katniss, what a surprise. I was just finishing to talk with Ejay and his mother, so if you please wait outside in the meantime-"

I sort of ignored Ms. White as I glanced over at Ejay who was covered in bandages from head to chest.

Gosh, what did Cato do to him?

He was glaring at me, with a suspicious look on his face.

Ejay's mother suddenly spoke up. "Oh no, it's fine. She can stay if she likes. Go ahead and ask Ms. White anything you want, sweetie." She managed a sincere smile towards me, but her face was clearly covered in dry tears.

I felt a stab of sympathy for the both of them.

"Um-" I turn to stare at Ms. White.

Oh crap, now I need to make up an excuse for why I wanted to see her.

"Well, um." I stare at the floor, my eyes sheepishly leaving her gaze.

"It's about Cato, isn't it?" Ms. White gave off a sigh.

Ejay seemed to almost growl when we spoke of his name.

"He left me." I blurted out.

"Left you, what? Where did he go?"

"He went with the other elites," I miserably explained.

"He's not supposed to go out anywhere. Ebon let this happen?" Ms. White began to rant.

"Well, uh." I watched as Ms. White excused herself from the room and walked outside, probably to go yell at Ebon.

Oops.

"So, you're the Hunger Games girl that everyone's been talking about." Ejay's mother blinked at me.

"Yeah," I awkwardly smile and lean against the wall.

"And the other boy-the one who beat my son, I assume he's Cato?"

"Yeah." I answer again.

Ejay's mother sadly stared at Ejay, who had his face turned the other way like he was angry about something.

"My poor Ejay, this is the worst he's ever gotten hurt."

I sigh and silently walk towards Ejay so I was barely standing over his bed. "Ejay. It's nice to meet you, my name's Katniss." I smile, reaching out a hand towards him.

However, he ignores it. "Likewise." He says.

I bring my hand back towards me, taking a few steps back from his bed. "Well, I just wanted to say, that you're really tough. I mean, back in the Games, nobody could ever hurt Cato the way you did. No one would even touch him, that's how strong Cato was. Believe me, I would know."

Well except the mutts, but that's a different story.

I stand there, feeling stupid, but surprisingly enough, Ejay grins at me.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Ejay seems like a really cool guy. Maybe we could even hang out sometime. Two can play at this game, Cato. You make friends with my enemies, fine.

I'll make friends with yours.

* * *

><p><strong>Cato's POV<strong>

As I walk back to the entrance of the hospital with Jana, I wobble towards the side of the concrete and lean against the metal fence that separated the hospital from the rest of the shops.

Ugh, shit.

I am so wasted.

I laugh as Jana falls against me, her being wasted as well.

Turns out, the elites had quite a bit of vodka filled in bottles of water. And hey, how could I resist?

My head is spinning constantly right now, and I feel like crap.

Jana's not as drunk as me, so most of the things she's doing are on purpose. "Cato, Cato." She seductively whispers into my ear while tugging on my shirt.

I drag her towards the other side of the fence and pin her against it, while kissing her neck.

"I want to see you shirtless, again. " She pouts, and pulls on my shirt while kissing my back.

I inwardly groan. "I feel like shit,"

I stop kissing her, which causes her to protest.

"Don't stop." She frowns, and wraps her arms around my neck.

I smirk and softly drag my fingers across her bare cheek, while pressing my lips against hers. "You're too cute."

"I know." She says between kisses.

"Cato!"

I hear my name being called, but I ignore it as I continue to kiss and touch her.

"Cato!"

I break the kiss and gently shove her away. "What! What? The fuck-you want!" I slurred, grabbing my aching head.

I barely made out the shape as it walked towards me, but sooner or later I figured out it was Ebon.

"Leave me alone." I flipped him off and wobbled away from the fence, leaving a rather disappointed Jana behind.

"You're drunk." He glares.

"No shit," I roll my eyes and nearly collapse on the floor, but manage to keep myself up using sheer force.

He curses something I can't quite catch, but he stares at the sky as if damning the gods for something.

"Jana, do you want me to call someone to pick you up?" Ebon asks.

Jana shakes her head and smiles. "No thanks, I'll walk home." She blows me a kiss and continues to walk down the concrete path.

She's wasn't even drunk at all.

That bitch.

I ignore it and groan while Ebon gently picks me up off the floor. I lean against his shoulder and let him drag me towards the hospital, while I wobble like an idiot.

"Cato, how much did you drink?" He asks me.

"A lot. I can't remember." I shake my head as I feel another wave of dizziness and nausea coming.

As we walk inside the hospital, Ebon sets me down on a nearby couch and places an ice pack on my forehead.

I sigh and grab a pillow to place over my head. The headache was increasing.

I instantly jump out of my place on the couch as soon as I feel a pillow being thrown at me from across the room.

"Katniss!" argued Ebon.

This little-

"So, how was your date with Jana? I hope it was good, you asshole. I hate you! I hate you!" She screamed, but I couldn't even make out her face; my vision was spinning around too much.

"Shut up, Firebitch." I protested, trying to throw a pillow at her, but probably miserably failing.

"Don't call me that-"

"And what are you gonna do about it, Firebitch?" I snarl back at her.

"I hope you die. You ass-" She tries to kick me, but I surprisingly dodge it, still not knowing where the hell she was.

Ebon held me back from getting up while I merely flipped her off and rested my head back against the pillow.

I heard her sigh in defeat and walk away, probably filled with anger and sadness.

I give out another groan and lay back against the couch again, trying to close my eyes and block out the dizziness.

However, that didn't work at all.

I lunge over and throw up inside a bowl that Ebon placed next to the couch. I give another groan as I turn on the couch to rest on my stomach. Ignoring all the commotion from the nurses, and Ebon-he was saying something to me; although, I didn't know what the hell he was talking about. I press the pillow against my head and cough, giving out a few gasps of air to keep me from puking again.

"Just try and go to sleep, Cato." I hear Ebon sigh, probably realizing that I was too drunk to even listen to him.

As he walks away, I wince and let out a few moans again. Oh god, I almost forgot how horrible being drunk was. The last time I got drunk-damn, probably a year ago now? I know definitely before the Games.

I try and close my eyes, ignoring the waves of nausea and dizziness. I raise my head over towards the bowl and vomit again, before resting my head back against the pillow and placing the icepack on my forehead.

"Fuck it. Fuck my life," I murmur, and assume that the nurses just ignore me at that point.

I turn the other way and shut my eyes again, this time drowsing off more slowly now. The lights in the room start to fade away, as my vision gets engulfed in silent darkness. I think, or rather, dream about certain things.

Like my family, my friends, Clove. I haven't thought about her in a long time now. She's kind of just a distant memory that I once loved. Her spirit rests back in that deadly arena, along with all the other many tributes I killed. I haven't even thought about them.

Glimmer, she was a good ally. Beautiful, too. Too bad she got killed by Katniss and her swarm of tracker jackers. And Marvel, he was a good kid. He died; by Katniss too, I recall. Damn. Did Firegirl kill all my allies? Really? Well, bravo for her. In her defense though, Marvel did kill her little tree-hopping friend from District 11. What was her name? Roe? Rae? Ru-Oh yeah, Rue.

Her district partner was that beast Thresh. I remember now. We tried to get him on our side with the careers, but he venomously refused. That moron. He would've been a really good ally, and with him as our ally; Clove wouldn't have died. Well bye Thresh, hope you have fun in hell. You monster. You bastard.

I mentally flipped him off in my mind.

He's a monster. But, I am too. So, I guess I'll see him in hell when I die. I hope he's the only one I'll see.

I forcefully shut my eyes again as I fade back into reality. I groan and turn over on the covers; I don't remember having this many on. Hmm. One of the nurses must have put another one over me. I cough and feel my forehead which is burning hot with a fever. Although, the rest of my body feels icy cold.

I sigh and turn over, while slowly opening my eyes. The room is much more darker now, and there are few nurses left. Most of them went home for the night. I glance over at the clock and read that its 3:00 a.m.

I went to sleep at midnight, so I only had three hours of sleep.

Why can't I just go to sleep?

I stare down at the bowl and discover that it had been replaced with the old one. It was now clean and shiny.

Not for long. I mentally think as I turn over against the couch. I feel nauseous, but not to the point where I'll throw up again.

I hear a distressed moan from across the room, in another room. Probably one of the patients.

But then I hear a familiar scream coming from Katniss.

Inside her room.

* * *

><p><strong>Katniss POV<strong>

I let out a strangled scream as I turn around in the covers, squeezing my grip on the pillows.

_As I'm trapped in this nightmare, I find that I'm inside a room, covered with rust in blood. I turn around and hear agonizing screams and moans from across the dark hallways. I hear whips being used, and screams emitting through out the darkness._

_I see Gale, covered in blood and dying on the floor._

_I can't save him._

_I call for him, but he merely looks up at me and gives off a sad frown._

_"Why didn't you save me, Katniss?" He whispers, his hands being held up by shackles in a rusty room covered in blood. "You didn't save me. Do you hate me?"_

_"No! No, Gale. Please, don't die. I love you, I'll save you." I cry out and try to run towards him, but the floor around me gives off and turns into this unusual black water that I find myself wading in._

_I cough and push back the water in a frustrated manner, while trying to swim towards him. However, he's miles away now. Still dying, calling for help._

_"Katniss, help me." He sobs._

_"Hold on, Gale." I shout, holding in shaky gasps of air. I feel something grab my leg and try and pull me under the water, but I kick it away with extreme force and scream. "Let me go! I have to help him-oh, Gale."_

_I furiously flap my arms in the air and choke on the black water, helplessly watching as Gale gets further and further away from me._

_"It's too late, Katniss." I see him smile. He seems peaceful, as if he knows he's going to die._

_"No! NO!" I let out another blood-curdling scream, as I frantically wade around the water._

_"Katniss." He whispers._

_"Gale," I choke back on tears._

_"Katniss. Katniss! Katniss!" I hear him, as I fade away from this pitiful nightmare, and back into reality._

"No, no." I sob, turning around against the covers.

"Katniss." I hear a gentle voice reassure me, and find out that it's Cato once I open my eyes.

I pant, covered in sweat. He's laying over me, trying to get me to relax. He's shirtless.

I let out an anguished sob as I grab onto him and press my chest against his abs. I bury my head into his shoulder and sniffle, as he softly strokes my back.

"I don't hate you. I'm sorry." I say in between shaky breaths of air.

He lightly chuckles. "Good to know, I guess."

"I had, a nightmare." I sigh, wrapping my arms around his neck.

He lays us both down against the bed as he gets under the covers next to me. I press myself closer to him and rest my head against his chest, hearing his heart beat.

"I know, I heard you scream." He softly strokes my cheek, reassuring me.

"Gale. Oh Cato, he's...dying. He's-I couldn't save him." I try to calm myself down, but all that came out was panic-filled gasps.

Cato shushes me and lightly strokes my arm, while holding me in his arms. "No he's not. It was just a nightmare."

I merely nod, trying not to think about it right now. Oh god, but what is he is? Sometimes nightmares can be true. This can be a sign.

I stare up at Cato's face and notice that it's extremely paler than usual. I place my hand against his forehead.

"You have a fever. And you're really pale." I worriedly stroke the side of his face and press my forehead against his and faintly smell the scent of alcohol.

Well, that's probably why.

"I got drunk, and I sort of threw up." He explains, as I continued to stroke his face.

"Well that explains why you had horrible aim when you threw that pillow at me." I giggle.

He rolls his eyes, but smirks. "Shut up."

I smile back at him, but now before up at the ceiling and returning into my sad state. I keep thinking about that nightmare. "I can't do this anymore. I can't. We need, to ask Ebon if we can leave this District. We need to."

"I know." He blinks at me.

"Tomorrow. We'll ask him." I state, slowly beginning to close my eyes and nuzzle my head against Cato's bare chest.

I notice as he watches me fall asleep, a certain glint in his eye. I wonder, if he may be up to something.

I sigh and flutter my eyes close as he strokes my shoulder, comforting me and murmuring sweet things into my ear.

If he is up to something, I'll find out sooner or later.

Right now, I was just content listening to his soft heart beat, and his comforting whispers.

* * *

><p><strong>Oh my gosh, well what could Cato be up to? Hahaha. You'll find out soon. OHMYGOD I love that there's so many reviews! :'D Thanks you guys! There's like more than 100 right now! I love that you guys like my story ^.^ I also noticed I've been getting a lot of requests for Katniss to get pregnant. Well, of course she's going to get pregnant. But that happens much later in the story ;) But I'm not going to tell you who the Daddy is, yet. Muhahaha :D And Cato and her will have sex, eventually. It's not gonna be a lemon, though. Since this is a rated T story. Oh yeah, check out my poll, guys! Please! I see most of the votes were on a Hunger Games SYOT, so I might consider it. Well, I hope you like this chapter ^.^ And review! 3<strong>


	16. Betrayal

**Katniss POV**

I lay on the bed, silently watching the commotion in the other rooms. My door was slightly ajar, so I manage to get a glimpse of the nurses gaping at the several televisions.

I wonder what's going on now?

As I slight breeze came across the room, I sharply inhale and bury myself deeper into the covers which was also shared with Cato. I press myself against him and listen to his grunts and coughs. He had several pillows pressed against his head, so I could barely make out his face. Just by looking at him, I could tell that hangovers were not really fun.

When he lets out another groan, I softly stroke his shoulder and plant a light kiss against it.

"Katniss?" he sighs.

I bury my face into the crook of his neck and continue to stroke his shoulder. "Yeah?"

"What's going on? I hear the TV," he breathes.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling it's not good." I reply, turning away from glancing towards the room with a flashing TV. Last time I looked at it, Gale was being whipped to death on live television. I can't bare to look at it anymore. If something else happens, I know I'll lose it.

Cato stares at me, in an almost kind of understanding, or reassuring manner. He tries to sit up on the bed, earning him a few winces of pain from his headache.

"No, just lay down." I sit up as he does, trying to pull him back under the covers.

"I'm fine," he grunts.

He lets the covers drop to his waist, and I find myself absent-mindedly staring at his abs. I almost forgot he slept shirtless, next to me.

I blink, and try to look away. Oh god, why does he have to be so gorgeous?

As soon as he catches me staring at him, he smiles. "What? Are my abs too much for you?"

I crossed my arms. "I wasn't staring at them, I was staring at your, uh, eyes."

"Whatever, my eyes? When I stare at you, the last thing I want to check out is your eyes." he lets out a mischievous smirk.

I instantly feel my face grow red. "You stare at me!"

He laughs. "As if you don't notice, Katniss."

I open my mouth to protest, but instead, I avert my gaze to stare at Ebon who just walked into the room.

He had this solemn expression on his face, and I instantly wondered if he had watched whatever what was on that TV.

He stared at the both of us. Me and Cato exchanged glances, but curiously waited for Ebon to say something.

"I have news." he merely explains, making my anticipation grow even more.

"What was on the TV? Ebon, why are all the nurses worried?" I ask, almost jumping off the covers and leaning over the bed.

Ebon sighs, closing his eyes for a mere few seconds, before opening them to look at the both of us again.

I held myself from jumping. His eyes were unusually cold, and sort of scary. He was worried about something, I know.

"District 8 is rebelling." he says, his expression remaining the same.

I curiously stare at him, perplexed. "What? Against the capitol?"

He nods.

Beside me, I hear Cato merely chuckle with amusement. He never takes anything seriously.

"Those morons," Cato sneers.

"I don't know if this could mean trouble for us, yet. But we should keep on our toes. Watch the news. I'm afraid it could get worse." Ebon crosses his arms.

"Ebon, I need to ask you something-" I choke on words.

"First, I want you two to come with me." he exchanges a glance between me and Cato, allowing us to get off the bed and follow him into the next room.

As I walk into the TV room, I am instantly stared at by at least nine or ten nurses, including Ms. White.

Their serious expressions put me on guard, so I carefully glance at Ebon, who throws me a reassuring glance.

"What's this about?" I silently ask, trying to avoid the stares, and even some glares that the nurses put on.

"It's alright, Katniss. We just want to talk." he gently explains, but not quite enough to reassure me.

I glance over at Cato, who has the same cautious expression on. He stares at me, almost asking me the same question.

I wish I had an answer.

I sit over on one of the couches by myself, while Cato's forced to sit on another couch. I feel like a nervous wreck, especially since I don't have Cato by my side anymore.

"I want them out!" One of the nurses shout, which bewilders me.

Ms. White tries to quiet her, but the nurse's sobs quickly block any reaming noise through out the room.

She stares up at me, her eyes full of tears and anger directed towards me. I blink at her, trying to remain calm. What did I do?

"This District used to be peaceful, until they came! Why didn't you just let them die, Ebon? Why? I have to live in fear now, the laws are now way more harsh then they used to be! My children-" Her speech is interrupted by sobs.

The laws are more harsh now? Ebon didn't tell us this. I glance at him, but he merely narrows his eyes towards the floor, as if angry about something. Is he betraying us? Does he agree with these nurses?

Ms. White however, gives off a sympathetic stare directed to either me and Cato, or the crying nurse.

The nurse stops crying, and stands up to walk towards me. "This District isn't safe with you in it. You need to leave! Leave!" She grabs my shoulders and violently shakes them, which puts me in awe.

"Don't you dare touch her!" I hear Cato snarl, furiously jumping off the couch to try to get to me, but is held back by several guards who now, I just notice were watching us across the room.

"Stop it! Stop!" I yell out, directed to both the nurse and Cato. The nurse is immediately taken away by the other nurses in a crying fit. She finally snapped.

I stare at Ebon, who just stands there and does nothing. I want to throw something at him, right now.

As Cato is finally released by the other guards, I watch as he angrily stands up, refusing to sit on the couch anymore. I helplessly try to call him, but am instantly inturrupted by more protesting nurses.

"Paula had a point, Ebon. No one can go outside anymore. The last time we went outside, we saw several search planes from the Capitol flying in the air. Nobody is safe anymore." Another nurse complains, and I watch as Ebon says nothing, again.

Just as soon as Cato's tries to say something, I surprise the entire room by exploding into a fit of anger.

"Do you think I want to stay here! I want to leave! I hate it here! My friend, he's dying! Because I'm sitting here doing nothing!" I shout, kicking several pillows that were on the couch.

The other nurses say nothing, while I pant in rage. "I'm tired..I'm tired of it! Everything." I manage to choke out, while glaring at all the other nurses.

"Katniss is right." Ebon says, which completely baffles me. "She doesn't have a choice but to stay here. She wants to leave as much as any of you want her gone."

"But the horrible thing is, that they can't leave." One of the nurses whispers, which earns her a few glares from the other nurses.

Ebon snarls at her, and I immediately discover that she said something she wasn't supposed to say.

"What?" I almost lose my breath.

"Nothing." Ebon replies.

"No. No! She said that we can't leave! What does she mean by that, Ebon? Ebon!" I get off the couch and angrily tug on his arm, trying to get his attention.

"You can't leave, alright? You can't ever leave. You two are kept here as prisoners. We were supposed to keep that a secret from you." He avoids my gaze and glares at the nurse who spilled the secret.

"Why didn't you tell us? Oh god, why!" I raise my hand and slap him, which sends him on edge.

The other guards come and grab me as I scream and shout at Ebon. I try to punch, kick, and bite as I scream again. The screams were mostly anger mixed with sadness.

No.

No, this can't be happening.

This was all planned out. District 13 never wanted to help us. They wanted to keep us as prisoners to use against the Capitol. We're basically cannon fodder.

The guards drop me as soon as I hear grunts of pain. I cover my ears with my hands, but look up to see Cato punching and kicking the shit out of the guards as he lunges at Ebon.

"You shit! You betrayed us! You bastard! I'll kill you!" Cato shouts, trying to avoid the other guards as more kept running inside the room.

"Cato, no. Please.." I helplessly lay my head against the floor as I curl up into a ball and let out an anguished sigh of defeat. I try to hold my tears back as I sniffle, hiding my face away from all the other enemies inside the room.

The guards manage to get a hold of Cato as they kick him in the stomach, and drag him off to another room. He lets out a few grunts and curses until they punch him again.

"No, don't hurt him! Let him go!" I try to get up off the floor but I am instantly held back by Ms. White who shushes me and holds me in her arms. I try to fight, but I instead just merely lay my head back onto her shoulder and cry.

I'm sorry, Cato.

I thought Ms. White was on their side, but at least she feels sorry for me.

I feel the whole room spin as realization hit me that I was never coming back home.

As soon as I started to scream, Ms. White holds her hand over my mouth in an effort to shush me again. I blink, letting the tears run down my cheeks. But, as soon as I feel no air coming in, I try to fight back and frantically pull her hand away from my mouth. My vision soon begins to fall into darkness.

The last thing I could make out was Ms. White's sympathetic frown, and a "sorry."

* * *

><p><strong>Peeta's POV<strong>

I tiredly sit down on my father's chair and watch as other customers pass by the windows of our bakery shop, in a desperate effort to get out of the rain.

It rains often in the District, but this rain was part of a storm coming in. This day was depressing, but every other day seems depressing without Katniss. Yesterday, I went to go visit Katniss's Mom and Prim. Poor Prim. I hurts seeing her usual happy expression being crushed by her sad emotions in losing her sister. Now, she barely says or does anything. She just sits there and pets the cat every so often. Katniss's mom hardly has any emotion at all, but she manages to get her work done. Taking care of Gale has her up 24/7.

Gale, he's not looking to good. He's healing, yeah, but we almost have to drug him every day. The first day he got whipped, that sadist President Snow put it on live television. The guy that was whipping Gale almost would've killed him until me and Madge happened to come along. Madge, she has this connection with Gale. I almost wonder if they like each other.

But Gale, I know he's sad about Katniss's death too. He barely even talks to me. But then again, why would I even bother to talk to him? I never liked him. I only talked to him once in a while because he was Katniss's friend.

God, I miss her.

I sigh, and drag my finger across the window to draw her initials. My dad says it's a sad loss, but I'll get over it sooner or later. But he's wrong.

I won't.

What kills me even more is, that President Snow has search planes fly over to where near the cave was, where she fell in. But it's all caved in now. How could she still be alive? She can't be.

We were so close. She could've survived if that cliff hadn't gave off. We could've killed that monster from District 2, Cato. We could've both lived and went back home, together.

President Snow's probably just trying to find that "legend" District 13. It never existed anyway.

Madge still has hope that she's alive. But, I know it's just to make me and Gale feel better.

I know she's dead.

My heart is nothing.

My life is nothing.

Because she's dead.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry, that this chapter's a little bit shorter, but at least here's a lot of drama! :D Bet you didn't see that coming, did you?<strong> **Katniss and Cato were betrayed! D: Anyway, please review like all of you have been doing so far :'D thanks, I love you guys 3 And hope you like this chapter! I even added Peeta's POV this time! Yay! Be warned, there's a lot more drama that's going to come in the other chapters. **


	17. Playing with Fire

**Katniss POV**

As soon as my eyes fluttered open, I awoke to a painful headache. All I remember was nurses screaming at me, Cato fighting, Ebon betraying-

I let out a tiny moan, mixed with a sigh.

I hoped it was just a dream. But my instincts tell me it wasn't.

My gray eyes widen as I discover my surroundings. I'm in a cold, gray room. Possibly still in the hospital, I think I'm in a room where they put their most crazed patients in. But...I'm not crazy.

When I hear moans and deranged humming coming from the rooms next to me, I frantically sit up. However, I'm held back by metal bars that are keeping my hands and feet against the steel table.

No.

No, no, no, no!

I let out an anguished gasp of air as I struggle against the steel table in an effort to turn it, facing another side. I try to cry out, for somebody, anybody, to hear me. But, I instantly stop as soon as I remember that no one was on my side. Except for Cato.

"Cato!" I scream, trying to force the metal bars off of my hands by pushing myself upwards.

Oh god, what are they doing to him? Please tell me they're not hurting him!

I scream his name again, earning a few screams from the other crazed patients in the room next to me. I stop screaming, and helplessly listen to their unnecessary screams.

I give out another forceful grunt as I try to push myself upwards and break the grasp of the metal bars. As soon as I reach my limit, I stop and heavily pant. My face was flushed with distress and anxiousness while I listened to more deranged voices speaking from within the walls of the room.

I look down and try to wriggle free my hands from the bars, but my wrists are raw from struggling so much. It was impossible to break free from bars of steel. I broke free from many traps before, but never a metal one.

I coughed and let out a stressed cry of despair as I violently shook against the bars.

"Let me out!" I cry, as I bite my lip in frustration.

"Please," I beg this time, pleading, praying, that someone would hear me.

I pause my struggling when I hear footsteps and light chattering behind the locked door that was keeping me inside this room. The voices sounded familiar, but I couldn't remember from whom they were coming from.

I turn to the side and face my head towards the back of the room to mindlessly stare at the steel wall. I slightly wet my dry lips, feeling heavily parched. I haven't eaten or drank anything the whole day. I remember waking up in the morning, talking to the nurses, suffocating-deeply losing air, and then ending up here. How long have I been unconscious for?

Rubbing my wrists against the steel bars, I try to break free once again, but with no success. Several minutes pass, and I start to feel distressed and tired. I merely place my head against the cool steel, and give out light pants in order to relax myself.

I freeze as soon as I hear someone slowly unlocking the door, and the slight creak of the door opening. My gray eyes avert towards the entrance and once I see who comes inside the room, I avoid his gaze by glancing up at the iron ceiling.

Ebon walks inside the room, followed by this middle-aged woman who seems to have a sort of higher power. I could only guess that she might be the one and only, President Coin.

I turn away from the both of them, trying to restrain myself from lunging out and strangling them. I start to breathe more heavier now, feeling slightly nervous of her presence in the room. What is she planning?

"Katniss," she soothes, as if I were her most favorite person in the world.

"I don't want to talk to you." I narrow my eyes, keeping my gaze off hers.

"Now, now. Is that anyway to behave towards the president of the district who's keeping you captive here?" I nearly hear her purr with amusement, which makes me sick to my stomach.

"Ebon," I ignore her, now turning my head to face Ebon, who was standing in a corner from across the room in a very apathetic manner.

"Ebon, why? Why are you doing this? I trusted you," I blink at him, showing anger, sadness, and disgust at the same time.

"Ebon's not a part of this conversation, I am." President Coin answers for him and walks closer to me, as if showing her dominance by standing over me.

I look away, not wanting to show her my feelings.

"Look at me, Katniss." she insists.

"No," I shut my eyes, trying to nudge my body away from hers.

"I just want to talk. I've heard quite a bit about you, Katniss. Or should I say, "Girl on Fire." she explains, inching a few steps away from me now.

However, I continue to ignore her.

"If you cooperate with us, you time here will be very peaceful, I promise. We're not keeping you forever, nor do we wish too. Yes, we plan to use you against the capitol, but you'll be playing a very important role for us. You're going to be our secret weapon."

I softly clench my fists against the iron bars. "I don't want to,"

"Then," President Coin continues to explain her little speech. "I guess you don't mind seeing District 12 exploding into ashes? Because that's what the Capitol is planning, Katniss. We want revenge on them. Do you really want to see all the people you love, die? Your mother, your little sister, Peeta, Gale...his family.."

I let out a tiny gasp. How did she know about them? I almost choke on the exasperation in my voice as I quickly turn to face her.

"No, no, I don't. I didn't know that it was for sure yet, I thought it was just a threat." I ask.

She smiles, but I'm not sure whether it's a sinister one, or a sympathetic one. "Yes, Katniss. The bombing of District 12 is going to happen. Soon."

I violently shake my head. "No! They can't do that! They can't-"

"They will," she explains.

"I'll do what you want, then." I hesitate, almost choking out the words I just said. "I'll help you, but only if it means saving District 12."

"We don't know when the bombing is predicted to happen, yet. But we suspect that it'll be during the time of the 75th Hunger Games."

I blink. "The 75th? They're having another one so early? It's not even the third quarter quell yet."

"President Snow hasn't announced it yet, but there's been rumors that there is going to be a special twist to this one." she replies.

I felt my stomach twist. Whatever President Snow has in mind, it must not be a good one.

"If I hear anything more about it, I'll tell you." President Coin reassures me, although her voice doesn't seem so reassuring.

I sigh. I don't trust her at all, despite all this vital information that she's giving to me. She seems like the type of person who will stab my back if I'm not looking. But, at least we have one thing in common. I know she doesn't like me, and I don't like her, either.

"So, we'll work together in the meantime, alright, Katniss?" She smiles at me, and holds out her hand. I feel as I'm the prey being handed over to the predator.

I hesitate, before lightly shaking her hand. "Deal."

She turns, and leaves the room. I open my mouth to ask her something, but by then she shuts the door, leaving both me and Ebon inside. I was going to ask her if I can be let free from this horrid room, but oh well.

I hear Ebon sigh in relief, like a huge weight has been lifted off his chest.

I glare and turn the other way. If he thinks I'm going to forgive him that easily, he's got another thing coming.

"Look, Katniss." he tells me, seeing that I glared at him.

"You betrayed us. I trusted you, I really did. And you stabbed me in the back." I say.

He walks closer to me. "I didn't betray you. I couldn't say anything, or else the nurses would figure I'm on your side, and then they would tell President Coin, and you, me, and Cato would all be executed. Is that what you want?"

"Still," I bit my lip.

"Don't trust President Snow for a minute, understand? She using you." He explains, which makes me smile.

I roll my eyes. "You don't think I know that, already?"

"Anyway, I have a plan. I can't tell you, here." he says, and the minute I opened my mouth to say something, another deranged scream comes from within the walls.

I give out a tiny whimper as I struggle against the steel table. I helplessly stare at Ebon, who instantly notices my distress.

"Please," I wince as I hear another scream. "I don't want to listen to them, anymore."

I've always had a strange phobia of crazy people for some reason. Maybe it was based on my childhood, or the Games, but I didn't really know where it came from. Or maybe I felt sorry for them.

Ebon stands over the table and tries to break the iron bars that were keeping my hands and feet pressed against it. He grabs a nearby wrench from across the room and manages to break each of them, one by one.

Once I was free, I broke into sighs of relief while I gently rub my aching wrists. I press myself against Ebon as he reassuringly strokes my shoulder.

"It's alright," he soothes, as he helps me off the table and towards the door, which led outside of the room.

He helps support me as he closes the door behind him, which I was glad to be out of. When we walk across the hallway, I try to ignore all the crazy hums and shouts that were echoing through out the hallways.

As soon as we walk outside the hospital and into the carbonated fresh air, I eagerly look up at him.

"Where's Cato?" I ask.

"He's fine. President Coin talked to him, too. But I wasn't there." Ebon replies, curiously narrowing his eyes. He must be thinking whether President Coin told him the same thing she told me.

I had this feeling she didn't. I just hope that she didn't tell him the complete opposite she told me. If she did, I was going to have a serious problem with her.

"Are we really going to be kept as prisoners here?" I glance up at Ebon, who narrows his eyes at an inanimate object that I can't seem to see. I know all the nurses practically hate us, so the whole district must hate us too.

"Yes, but you'll still be treated as guests." He replies.

I give out a slight snort. "Then what's the point?"

"You can't leave Katniss, because how do we know that you won't just run off and tell President Snow where District 13 is hiding ?"

I opened my mouth in shock. I can't believe he actually thought I was like that! "I would never do that! I thought you knew me better!"

"I know that. Try telling that to President Coin, though. And the rest of the District." He smiles at me.

"Oh." I blink, averting my gaze onto the floor. That makes sense that she wouldn't trust me. "But, I won't. I promise, I-"

I sigh, biting my lip in a frustrated manner. "I just want to go home."

I never knew I would miss my dirty, homeless District so much. There's people starving, dying there. Everyday, when I used to walk towards the "Keep Out" fence to go and hunt, I would see people starving, eating filth from the floor. I would try to ignore it, because what else could I do? I have no food for them, myself. There's some people who would do anything to get out of District 12, and here I am, desperate to go back.

"I know, Katniss. I know," He makes no move to comfort me, but I can tell by his voice that he has sympathy for me, like a child would to a lost, stray dog.

Ebon carefully looked at our surroundings as the lights around us began to flash off. That must mean it's night.

"You can't sleep in the hospital anymore," he explains.

I cross my arms. "Well, I know that. By the way they were screaming at me.."

"There's an extra apartment over in the north side of the District where Mason lives. He offered it to you."

I blink in surprise. "What?"

Wow. I would have thought Mason wasn't allowed to help me anymore.

"Yeah, I think you might like it. It's sort of small, but I can't think of anywhere else for you to stay,"

I ignore his description of the apartment as I sadly take a small breath of air and avoid the eerie chill across the area. "Where's Cato going to stay?"

Ebon stays silent for a few seconds. "He's going to have to stay in the hospital,"

"What?" I helplessly croak. "Why?"

"His arm, Katniss. It's not healed yet, if you noticed."

"I don't trust them-the nurses." I glare at Ebon, but nearly direct my glare towards the hospital, which was a few blocks away.

"Katniss, the nurses have to do their job no matter what. Even if they despise the person. I promise, he's going to be safe."

"You promised me, Ebon. You promised that they would operate on his arm and things would be normal again!" I give out an anguished cry.

"The medical business isn't that easy, Katniss. You think they can just touch his arm and chant "Abra Kazam" and his arm will be healed?

At this time, I don't find his humor very funny. "I wish it was that easy." I huff.

"I promised you, and I'm gonna keep it, alright? We're planning to do the operation in a couple of days." Ebon tells me.

I instantly gleam with joy on the inside, but Ebon seems deeply unhappy about it. He narrows his eyes, like he knows somethings gonna happen. Of course, I don't know about it. Nobody ever tells me anything.

I open my mouth to say something, until he gently nudges me towards the apartment, which amazingly, I'm dreading to go. I'm so used to sleeping with Cato, now.

"Come on, it's getting late. I'll tell you more tomorrow."

We make our way towards the apartment villa, which seems decent enough. There's angled concrete steps leading to each of the rows of the apartments. I could only try and guess which one Mason lived in.

Ebon walked me up the steps, leading to my apartment, which was on the lowest floor. It was small, seemingly the smallest one of all the aprtments. The windows were seeping with dust, and there was cracked pottery along the sides of the building.

As we opened the door, a load creak emitted through the area, so I guessed that it was rather old. Once we entered, Ebon turned and flicked on one of the lights so we could see the room better.

He wasn't lying when he said it was small.

However, it was cute and cozy. It looked like one of those hotel cabin rooms, with only a bathroom and a bedroom inside. There was a TV in front of the double bed, with a couch standing beside it. The bedroom was across the room, and it was small, with only a narrow shower and a toilet.

Even though it wasn't luxury, it was heaven to me. Back in District 12, all I had to wash myself was a small, rusty, bathtub that was shared with among the animals.

"Sorry there's no kitchen. If you want food, just ask Mason. He'll take you to a nearby market."

"It's perfect, uh, thanks Ebon." I hesitantly walked towards him, to give him an awkward hug. I was really thankful though. No matter how much a handful I was, Ebon was always there for us.

He lightly chuckles. "No problem, kid." He reaches down and ruffles my hair out of place.

I pat down my hair in place and smirk at him.

Once he says goodbye and leaves the apartment, I give out a heart-warming sigh of relief and guilt. Relief, because I know Ebon is sill on our side, and guilt, because I can't find Cato.

I haven't seen, or talked to him the whole day.

I crawl into the soft, and squishy bed and make my way under the covers. As I lay there, I think about what to do tomorrow. For once, amazingly, I don't think about my family, or Gale, or Peeta. It feels so good not to think about them too. It just brings sadness and nightmares into my dreams once I think about them, or what might be happening to them. I close my eyes and bury my head into the pillow while self-consciously crawling into a ball.

I try and think of something I wouldn't normally think about, like the outrageous sense of fashion the capitol has.

I think about purple, pink, fluffy things. And those horrid pink poodles with lion cuts, as I slowly begin to drift into peaceful sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Gale's POV<strong>

I watched as Ms. Everdeen was being interviewed by several cameramen, being asked stupid questions such as; how did she feel by the loss of Katniss? I felt my fists clench in anger beside me. My mother places her hand onto my shoulder and tells me to calm down, because she worries about my wounds healing or not. I feel a lot better, there's slight pain once in a while, but not like the heart-breaking pain I have to have Katniss die.

I watched her die on TV.

I watched her fall, and get crushed by a million rocks since the Capitol's interference with the Games. She could've lived, if it weren't for the damn Capitol.

When Prim comes to watch beside me, I gently hold her against my side. She buries her face into my shirt, and gives out an anguished sob. It feels horrible to see her like this, a once happy little girl, now an emotional wreck.

My mother crouches down and softly shushes her, wiping away her tears and stroking her hair down.

I watch as my mother cries along with her too. She was as crushed by Katniss' death as anyone else close to her. Katniss was basically like a daughter to her.

My other siblings watch and sadly stare out into space. Rory sighs, and brushes away several tears from his cheek as Posy clings onto his shirt, too young to know what's going on.

Ms. Everdeen is struggling to talk to the camera as she wipes away the continuous tears rolling down her face. While across from her, Peeta is being cheered on and congratulated like he won some kind of award.

I manage to control my rage as I glare.

The huge cinema TV in the center of our District flashes on as Caesar Flickerman talks about the other tributes who were in the Games along with Peeta and Katniss. One by one, we are shown their deaths replayed.

Katniss's death is the worst one to watch, as she helplessly falls off the Cornucopia and lands onto the floor when the ground gives off, and she's instantly crushed by boulders. While Peeta just watches.

We are also shown each of their parents' interviews. The first is District 1, and the parents are shown grieving in luxury. I glare at the TV in envy and silently curse them.

District 2 is the same thing. We're shown the family of the girl from District 2; Clove, as her family speaks into the screen. Her father isn't crying, but you can see that he's clearly upset. Her mother is in tears, saying the same words over and over again: "I knew she shouldn't have volunteered. I knew it."

The boy from District 2, Cato, I recall. He was a brutal sadist, with ripped muscles. I watched him kill many tributes, which caused me to develop a deep hatred towards him. Mainly because he was always after Katniss, and wanted to kill her. His parents come into the screen, and his father is shown. His face is cold and serious, like nothing happened. He talks about how disappointed he is, that his son lost. Does he even care? His mother at least, is upset. She wipes away several tears from her cheek as she glares at her husband, like she's angry with him. A young girl, nearly Prim's age, maybe a little bit older, is shown beside them.

She's sobbing and coughing as she chokes on her sobs. Several young men about my age come up and try to comfort her. I could only guess they were Cato's friends, and that was his younger sister. She's very similar to him, with flowing long blonde hair, like Prim's, only a few shades darker. And distressed blue eyes that are covered by tears.

As the other Districts come on, I barely notice as I stare off into space and listen to the cameramen ask questions. My clench my teeth in anger as I hear shouts and cheers of excitement coming towards Peeta.

It's not fair.

I hate them.

I hate the Capitol even more now.

* * *

><p><strong>Katniss POV<strong>

I peacefully rolled over against the soft blankets, giving out a content sigh. I slept much easier than I did in the hospital. Maybe because I was always thinking about Cato, or because of my nightmares. Luckily, I didn't have a nightmare.

I sleepily rolled off the bed and rubbed my eyes. Noticing a bowl of fruit that was left for me on the table, I make my way towards it. I raise an eyebrow and pick up a small note that was left next to the bowl.

**"Got you some breakfast. Hope you like it :) -Mason"**

A small smile tugged on my lips.

I pick up a perfectly, red, round apple and bring it to my mouth as I take a bite from it. It was juicy, to my surprise. District 13 doesn't seem like the type of District to grow well fruits.

I sit on a chair beside the table, by myself. It seems weird to be by myself, without no commotion or worries. I manage to not think about Cato, since it'll only make me stressed with worry.

As I take another bite from the apple, I start to stare off into space and glance at the wall. The only light from the room was the florescent light reflecting off the small window towards the entrance of the apartment. I avert my gaze over to the TV, silently wondering whether I should turn it on or not. I decide not to, since the only thing that's been on the TV has always been bad news. The last thing I want to worry about is what President Snow has up his scheming mind now.

I turn my head towards the small door of the apartment as a small paper protrudes inside the crack of the bottom of the door. I raise my eyebrow and slowly walk towards the door, picking up the small paper. I cautiously open the door to look outside, but the man passing around papers was already gone. As I look down at the paper all I see is the intriguing words:

**President Coin will have a meeting in the Training Room. Everyone is welcome to come.**

I roll my eyes and crumple the paper into my hands. What is she up to now? Deciding that it would be best to see what was going on, I step back inside the apartment for a few seconds to throw on some shoes and wrap my hair into a braid. I hesitantly wander off towards the Training Room, dreading every second of it.

I walk up steps and jump off narrow crevices as I take a short cut towards the Training Room. Ignoring all the noises and banging from construction sites, I silently hope that Cato would be there.

As I walk into the entrance of the huge building, known as the Training Room, I inhale a deep breath of air as I avoid groups of people wandering in and out of the building. I walk inside, and am greeted by several businessmen at the counter.

"Ah, Katniss. President Coin was expecting your arrival. Go on ahead between those doors to the right." They tell me.

I smile and nod. Of course she was expecting me. I have a feeling this whole meeting is because of me.

I take another breath of air as I walk inside the other room, managing to push past groups of huddling people inside the room. I suddenly feel myself going claustrophobic. This is a lot different than the peaceful, quiet forest back at home.

"Katniss!" I hear someone yell my name.

I feel a joy rush into my body as I hope to see Cato, but waves of disappointment crash through me as I discover it's only Mason.

"Hi, Mason." I smile, as he comes towards me.

"Hey, Katniss. What's wrong? You look depressed." He blinks at me.

You have no idea.

"I'm not depressed," I say, but my smile drops.

"Ebon knew there was going to be a meeting, and he told me to tell you. Sorry, I didn't. I thought you were still asleep, and I didn't want to wake you up." he explains.

"It's okay." I glance around the room, searching through the crowd of people to try to find Ebon, or Cato, for that matter.

"Where is Ebon, anyway?" I ask.

"Oh, he's with Jaesa." Mason casually replies, like it's nothing.

"Who's Jaesa?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Jaesa's his girlfriend, er-well his ex. A saw her once before, she's a tough girl. She usually hangs around shady cantinas that the Capitol doesn't own. You see, she's a big time rebel."

I cross my arms. Jaesa seems like a pretty cool person. I wonder if I'll ever meet her? I slightly feel disappointed that Ebon didn't tell me about her earlier.

As the crowd began to grow silent, I figured that President Coin has finally made her arrival. Of course, she's late.

I follow Mason into the front of the crowd as he eagerly leads me towards there. I feel somewhat vulnerable to be in front of the crowd, since I feel President Coin's cold eyes directly towards mine.

I shiver and huddle against Mason to protect myself from her gaze. He seems happy, but I'm dreading with anxiety. As I scan the crowd, my heart leaps when I see Cato. However, my heart breaks as I notice that he's standing with the elites. And...

Holding Jana's hand.

I silently curse her. Obviously, she's beaming with pride. And Cato seems cold, and serious. Not like the way he is with me when he's holding me when I have nightmares, but like the way he was back when I first saw him in the Games.

My eyes flutter open as I start to breath in heavy pants. I feel myself being filled with anger, sadness, and pain. I couldn't even bring myself to call out his name. He doesn't seem to notice me, since his gaze is avoiding mine.

I bite my lip, and glare at them as President Coin begins to start her speech.

"Welcome, my citizens of District 13. As you may have noticed, the laws in this District have gotten more, well, stricter."

A heard rows of approval and grunts of annoyance, and unfortunately, a few glares being directed towards me and Cato.

I silently laugh to myself and avoid their glares, helplessly watching as Mason glares back at them, as if to say "It's not her fault."

"The laws have gotten more stricter because of the many reported sightings of the Capitol's search planes. They have been seen flying through the outside entrance of our District. And as many of you know, we all know who they're looking for." She directs her gaze towards me, once again.

Why is she doing this?

"However, me and Katniss have already made a deal that she would work for me through the entire time of her stay. Together, we will make the Capitol think twice before entering our grounds and interrupting our peace."

Peace? I let out a incredulous snort.

There were cheers of approval among the crowds, but not like the incredible rage coming from Cato.

"What the fuck!" He shouts, directing all his hate and anger towards me. Like always.

A few of the people from the crowd gasp as I turn to face him.

He curses at me and shouts at me, as he's held back by several of the elites.

"Why the hell are you working for her, Firegirl?" he growls at me, clenching his fists together. "I thought we had a deal! We would escape together! Not work for her! Why are you kissing her ass, now?"

A few chuckles erupt from the crowd, but are quickly silenced by President Coin's glares. Is Cato really saying this? Really? In front of President Coin, does he want to get killed?

I glance down at the floor in complete anger. He doesn't know anything. He doesn't know what it's like to have your District cornered like rats and used as target practice while the Capitol is at war.

"Shut up! Just shut up, Cato! You wouldn't understand! Your District is treated like kings and queens! You would know what it's like to kiss someone's ass, since you and your District do it to the Capitol everyday!" I shout back at him.

The crowd watches us, almost amused by our little fight. Stupid pigs.

I hate them, I hate all of them.

"You're so lucky you're all the way over there, Firegirl. By now, I would have your pretty little neck crushed by my fists." he snaps at me.

"Try me." I seethe at him, ignoring President Coin at this point.

"Quiet! Quiet, you two!" President Coin orders us, calling in a few guards to come inside the building.

"Shut up, you bitch!" Cato directs his voice towards President Coin, which sends her seething with anger, although she tries her best to maintain it.

I grumble to myself and silently curse Cato to shut up. He's going to get himself killed. He really is.

Before I know what's going on, President Coin orders a few guards to rush over and restrain Cato before he gets too out of control. One of them punches him in the face, which causes him to groan and curse at them.

My whole face grows into sadness as I watch them punch him. "No! Stop! Please, don't hurt him!" I scream, slumping down to my knees and staring at President Coin with pleasing eyes.

He spits out blood as it cascades down his chin, acting as if nothing happened. He pants and continues to stare at me with utter anger, I can even see him trembling.

I feel sympathy towards him, but I'm still angry at him, for what he said to me. President Coin makes the sign for the guards to stop and continue on. They dip their heads in respect and drag Cato off to who knows where.

As they drag him along near me, he struggles and frees himself from their grip only to launch himself at me. I give out a strangled yelp as he pushes me onto the floor and forcefully lays himself on top of me so I couldn't get up.

Amazingly, the guards watch and hold back Mason this time, who tries to rush in to help me.

The crowd watches, as if they were watching their favorite TV show, along with President Coin.

Cato grunts and holds my arms back as I try to kick and punch him. I feel his breath hot against my ear as he pants and pushes his body further against mine to shove me harder against the tiled floor.

"You don't know," He pauses to silently growl against my ear, which sends shivers along my spine. "Anything about my District, Firegirl. So, I suggest you watch your filthy mouth, next time before you say anything. Get it?"

I let out a muffled cry as my face is pressed against the tile and my arms are painfully twisted back. Stings of hurt press against my eyes as I try to fight back tears of anguish and hate. "I hate you,"

I hear him give out a light chuckle of amusement. "Do you think I care? Do think that hurts me, Firegirl? You must be stupider than I thought."

I clench my teeth in anger. "Get off me." I struggle against him, trying to kick at everything that I'm sure would hurt him.

He holds my feet together as I kick, and grabs a hold of my face as if to snap my neck then and there. I stop struggling and helplessly lay there on my stomach as I pant and whimper.

He pushes me aside, as if he shouldn't even bother with me anymore. I turn myself around, so I'm on my back, and watch as he gets up and heads towards the guards, who motions for him to follow them.

Mason rushes against my side and takes me towards a nearby hallway, away from the crowd and President Coin. I lean against the cool wall and bite my lip in frustration.

"Are you okay?" he lightly strokes my cheek as I nod and sigh.

"Why does he do this to me?" I stare at Mason, who of course, has no answer. Instead he takes me into his arms and holds me.

I embrace him back, and lay my head against his shoulder. Why is Cato doing this? He takes my heart and softly strokes it, while crushing it into his fists and breaking it the next minute. He's ruining me.

I close my eyes as Mason strokes my back in order to comfort me. As I open my eyes again, I catch Jana staring at us from the entrance of the hallway. She's smiling at me, with an almost devilish look on her face. In seconds, she turns away and heads back into the room.

I could only guess what she's going to do.

She's going to lure Cato away, and tell him a very exaggerated story about me and Mason hugging in the hallway.

* * *

><p><strong>Ahh! Jana is really naughty, isn't she? D: Anyways, I hope you like this chapter since I made it extra long to make it up to you guys for having a smaller chapter last time. And I promise, I'll try to update much faster next time since I half this Thursday and Friday off this week :D Omg, and I watched the movie! It was so awesome! I loved it, but I almost cried when Cato got mauled :'( Thanks for the reviews guys! Almost up to 200 reviews! I'm so happy 3 I added Gale's POV, so I hope you like! :D Tell me which you like better, his POV or Peeta's, or even Prim's... Please leave me reviews guys! So maybe I'll get to 300 reviews! ;) Hahaha, jk. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!<strong>


	18. Imaginary Love

**Cato's POV**

As the guards led me into a secluded room inside one of the hallways, I made my way over towards the wall and watched as they closed the door shut behind me.

My mind raced as I placed my arms above my head and rested my forehead against the cold surface of the concrete wall. My thoughts raced back to when I tackled Katniss to the floor, nearly knocking her out. I couldn't force myself to stop, I was so angry at her.

Angry for what she said about my District, and not only that, but she's the one who caused this whole dilemma in the first place. She's the one making me fall in love with her...

Her irresistible smile, her silky dark hair tied up neatly into a braid, her "I don't take shit from anyone" attitude.

I try to insult her, to make her hate me for good. But whatever I do to make her angry, it isn't good enough. The both of us; just have this fatal attraction to each other. No matter how much we piss of one another, it just brings us back closer than ever.

District 2 and District 12 can't be together.

Why can't she just understand that? It would make my life so much easier if she did. _Does she not think that this hurts me as much as it hurts her?_

It kills me inside. It kills me to treat her like shit just because I'm afraid of what my parents would say if I fell in love with a rat from District 12. When I tackled her, I forced her face away from my gaze because I couldn't bear to see her face in tears and holding so much anguish and hate towards me. Once I heard her struggles underneath me, her whimpering, her sharp inhales of pain, I couldn't take it.

I couldn't hurt her anymore.

I make my way towards the old bunk bed and sit down, letting out a painful sigh. I rub my neck and push my hair back as I gaze down at the floor. I ignore the sounds from outside the room, as well as the door opening and closing.

Not lifting up my head, I coldly gaze up at the entrance of the room. Discovering that it was President Coin who walked inside the room, I give out a silent snort and place my gaze back on the floor.

"Well, well. Someone isn't very happy to see me." She states, bringing in a few guards inside the room to join her. Smart. Otherwise, she would be bleeding on the floor right now if she came in alone.

I don't reply. Instead, I merely hold up my hand and give her the middle finger.

"Listen, Cato. I haven't been treating you that bad, have I? So I propose that you behave. Otherwise, you will be severely punished. District 2 would be quite upset if I sent you to them inside a box with nothing but your mutilated body parts, now would they?" She threatens, and I realize she probably means it.

I slowly lift my head up to glare at her, the most hate-filled glare you could ever hold towards someone.

However, she didn't seem to even blink at my aggressive stare. "I know you're upset, Cato. But it's for the best, isn't it? I'm doing you a favor, by telling you to ignore Katniss and treat her the way you did in the Games. You'll learn to forget about her and move on. You're enemies and you always will be. District 2 is allies with the Capitol, District 12 and all those other "underdog" Districts are not. Soon, you two will be at war with one another. It's best that you not get close to her." She explains, which makes my body ache with pain and hurt.

My hazel gaze wavers, as I stare at the wall behind President Coin. "I know," I muster up enough strength to say those words, nearly choking on them.

"I have to kill her, don't I?" I manage to say, my voice quivering with sadness as I do. I'm on the verge of tears. I killed a lot of people before, without an ounce of remorse or guilt. But Katniss was different.

President Coin doesn't say anything, but simply gives off a light nod.

"Katniss seems to be moving on, just fine." She tells me, which instantly makes me whip my head up to stare at her.

My eyes widen. "What do you mean, she moving on?"

President Coin gives me one of the lightest smiles, which makes me growl in anger towards her.

"One of your elite friends told me. Jana. She said that Katniss was with Mason just after that little argument you two had. They both kissed."

I clench my teeth in anger and sit up from the bed, slowly making my way towards the other side. My fists were tightly clenched ad I gave off violent pants, which made even the guards take a careful step back from me. I silently cursed and lifted up the old bunk bed with my good hand, slightly lifting it up and throwing it against the other side of the room.

A sort of deranged, wild animal kind of noise came out from me as I stared up at President Coin.

"I'll kill him. I'll make him wish he was never fucking born." I brought my fist back and collided it against the wall, creating a small dent.

President Coin raised an eyebrow at me, but nevertheless gave off an amused smile.

* * *

><p><strong>Katniss POV<strong>

I self-consciously kicked at a pebble as I made my way towards the apartment villa. I said goodbye to Mason after we both left the Training Room because he had to get back to work, so now I was walking alone in the underground caves they called District 13. It was unusually crowded for some reason. I had to avoid crowds of people passing by as I tried making my way back to the apartment. I guess something was happening, like an event or something.

Maybe in the mall shops? Or the Dome. I was very curious to see what the Dome was all about.

As I began to get lost in my thoughts, I leaned back against one of the railings and watched as people chatted amongst themselves and walked past me. I bit my lip as I thought about when Jana saw me and Mason hugging in the hallway. Surely, she was going to tell Cato or probably did by now, and all hell would break loose.

I'm worried for Mason's sake. Cato...

Cato's a jerk.

I never know what he's thinking with that cold and arrogant attitude of his. I like his caring personality, the one he puts on when he's holding me from any dangers or nightmares. Not the one he puts on when he's mad at me for no reason, when he physically and mentally hurts me. I wonder which personality is actually his? The caring one, or the cold one? Deep inside, can he be truly caring? And the cold, mean side of him just be an act to make others fear him? Or, is the caring side of him an act to fool me?

I cross my arms and gaze up at the ceiling that was painted on to look like a fake sky. Very creative, actually. When it's day, the ceiling is made to look like a realistic sky with clouds and sun. When it's night, the ceiling turns dark with bright glowing stars.

I would like District 13 so much better, if Prim and my mother were here with me. And Gale and Peeta, Madge, basically everyone from District 12. We could start a new life here. All of us.

For once, I forget about Cato.

"He can go back to District 2, I don't care." I silently say, although I feel my heart crumbling in two. _Do I really mean that?_

"Who can go back to District 2?" I hear a voice say, making my gaze instantly look back down.

"Hi, Ebon." I give off a small smile as I see his face. He seems happier, for some reason.

He sighs and leans back on the railing next to me. "Is it Cato?" He asks.

I shrug. "I don't care about Cato. Let's talk about something else. Like, how was your day?"

He raises his eyebrow at me. He probably thinks it's weird for me to ask about how someone's day is. Because I never do, unless it's Prim.

"Well, my day was good. How about yours? I heard that President Coin had a meeting."

I roll my eyes. "Oh yes she did. It was lovely, really."

President Coin can go die in a hole, for all I care. In my mind, I try to think who's worse. President Snow or President Coin. Why are all the presidents so evil and corrupt?

"I'm guessing then that it wasn't." Ebon suggests, folding his arms back over his head.

As we both continue to watch other people pass by, I turn to him. "Why is there so many people out today?"

"They're having a sale in the shops, I'm guessing." He shrugs.

"Oh." I stand up from the railing.

A few groups of girls about my age, come walking by chatting rather loudly to one another.

"Oh my god, did you hear? There's a fight down in the shops." The girl said, which made me and Ebon turn our heads towards them.

"Really, with who?" Her other friend asked, her voice laced with excitement.

"With some guy who works at the shops, and this other hot elite. I never seen him around that much, though." She answers, which makes me freeze with anticipation and Ebon walk towards them.

"Did you know their names? Do you know who?" Ebon rushed towards them, impatiently asking.

The group of girls seemed startled that Ebon started talking to them, but nevertheless they shyly replied. "Oh, um. It was this one kid who works there, I think his name was Mason? And...the new elite, I think his name was Ca-Cato! Yeah."

Ebon eyes widened, but before he had the time to turn around and look at me I was already running across the bridge in an attempt to get towards the shops before Mason got hurt.

"Katniss!" He shouted, but I ignored him.

I frantically jumped across crevices and crowds of people, ignoring any kind of glares of mean looks I got because of rudely pushing past them. I gasped with dread as I neared towards the shops. My grey eyes wildly scanned for either Mason or Cato, or just Mason's bleeding body laying stiff on the floor.

No. Please, no.

I tried to climb up on one of the railings to see if I could see better. Just as soon as I could make out two shapes beings surrounded by a crowd of people and the other elites, I jumped off the railing and ran towards them.

"Stop! Stop!" I screamed, pushing past the crowd of people that were surrounding them.

My heart dropped as I saw Mason holding his bruised eye, and Cato yelling at him, something about kissing me.

My eyes narrowed as I watched Jana sitting with the other elites, watching everything unfold before her eyes. She was having fun, watching Mason get hurt.

That bitch.

"Don't you ever go near her again, do you understand? You little shit." Cato growled at Mason, who helplessly stood back and stared at him, confused.

Before Cato had time to throw another punch, I threw myself in between them.

"Stop, Cato!" I tried to push him away, ignoring Mason's cries for me to get away before I get hurt.

Cato violently jerked his arm away from my touch. "Get away from me, Firegirl." He sneered at me.

"Oh wow, look who's come to save poor little Mason." I hear Jana laugh to herself, and that's when I completely lose it.

"Shut up, you witch! Shut up before I give you another bruised eye!" I glare at her, which silences her. "This is all YOUR fault!"

She narrows her eyes at me and furiously curls her lip. The other elites look at me in bewilderment, like I just dissed their queen.

"Get away," Cato shoves me aside, and begins to approach Mason. "This is between me and him."

I lunge myself in front of Mason again, putting my face inches away from Cato's. I feel his hot breath against my ear and his angry pants against my cool skin.

"I said get the fuck away, you rat. Or do you not understand me? You filthy District 12." He whispers into my ear, throwing a great amount of hatred into each word he spilled out.

"Go crawl back into your little sewer that you call District 12, and marry stupid little Loverboy to live happily ever after with all your rat friends and family." He chuckles into my ear, but I can tell that his voice says something deeper. His voice seems almost, mixed with sadness?

I reel my arm back and slap him across the face, which causes him to take a step back from me.

I hear the elites gasp, and suddenly the whole area grows quiet.

I narrow my eyes at him and pant, my emotions mixed with anger, hate, and sadness. My whole body trembles as I watch him turn his face away from mine, giving me a menacing grin as if to say, "You're in deep trouble, now."

However, I ignore his grin. "Don't ever call me a filthy rat, again. Do you understand?" I carefully mock his voice. "You cocky, arrogant, bastard."

His grin turns into a frown as he pulls his hand away from his cheek, where I slapped him.

I turn around and force my attention towards Mason, who's still clutching his bruised eye. "Are you okay?" I ask him.

He nods at me and smiles.

I smile back, before turning to face Cato again. Surprisingly, he doesn't do anything. I guess I shut him up good, for now.

"Hey, hey! Everyone, move out of the way!" I voice shouts, and I instantly recognize Ebon's voice. Of course, Ebon always seems to come when the fight is already over.

Several nurses brush by Ebon and help Mason up, who's still staring at me.

"It's okay. I'll see you, soon. I promise." I reassure him.

He sighs and lets the nurses take him towards the hospital. I look at Cato and notice that his fists are clenched into tight balls beside him. Is he really that jealous of Mason?

Ebon silently curses to himself. "Let's hope this didn't draw the attention of President Coin, too much."

However, a couple of guards approached us and gestured for us to follow them. "Come with us, President Coin needs a word with you."

Me and Ebon exchange glances as I hear him mutter another row of curses. Cato crosses his arms and walks ahead of me, as I follow Ebon and the other guards back towards a huge building that I've never been inside before. Although, I'm guessing that it must be President Coin's quarters.

As we walk inside the building, this feeling of dread enters throughout my body. I begin to gasp, as we pass by the counter and into the rows off hallways.

Ebon and the guards enter an isolated room in the middle of the hallway, and mutter a quick "wait here."

I roll my eyes as I'm left alone with Cato.

We both stay silent for a few minutes, until he roughly grabs my arm and pulls my aside into the corner of another isolated hallway.

As Cato pushes me against the wall, with his body pressed against mine, I begin to struggle. My grey eyes instantly search for an escape route or any guards. Of course, there's nothing. So if he could, Cato can strangle me to death right here without anybody watching.

He puts his arms above my head as he places his face inches away from mine. "Relax." He whispers, which causes me to freeze up and stare at his hazel eyes once again.

"What do you want?" I glare at him, trying to keep my gaze away from his.

"Why..why Mason of all people?" He clenches his teeth.

I blink at him. "What?"

"Don't play stupid, I know you kissed him." He sneers at me, and I couldn't help but grin.

"I didn't kiss him! Who told you that?" I hold my tongue to keep from bursting out in laughter.

"President Coin did..well, she told me that Jana saw you two-"

"President Coin, really you're going to believe her? And Jana, yeah she saw me and Mason, but we were just hugging! She over-exaggerated the story, Cato!" I frown, wishing I would've punched her back at the shops.

He sighs and presses his face against my hair, taking the scent in. "I can't-"

"You can't what?" I ask, but I'm interrupted by his lips crashing down against mine. At first, I don't kiss him back. However, the sounds of his impatient grunts catch me off guard, and I can't resist him anymore. I allow his tongue to slip into my mouth as I savor his touch and the softness of his lips. As soon as he wraps his arms around my waist, we both stop the kiss by panting against each other.

I softly kiss his shoulder and rest my head against the crook of his neck as he breathes into my ear.

"I can't help myself around you. I can't stay away from you, no matter how much I try." He tightens his grip around me, almost protectively.

I gaze up at his eyes again, and sigh. "Then don't."

"You don't understand," He glares at me.

"Cato, I-" I begin to say, but he interrupts me again by bringing his lips to mine. This kiss wasn't as hungry and lustful as the other one, but more gentle and soft. He softly nibbles on my lip and brings me closer against the wall as he brings his lips to my neck.

I open my mouth to say something, but all that comes out is a silent moan as he places light kisses along my collarbone. These little kisses, each one he places causes my heart to flutter with happiness and my body to melt.

He stops, and stares at me again. He opens his mouth to say something, but musters up the courage to avoid saying it.

"Cato, I-" I continue to say, watching his gaze fall to the floor.

"Don't say it," He clenches his teeth in anger.

I force myself to swallow as I curiously stare up at him. "I love you."

A crash of relief came throughout my entire body as I felt like I got it over with. Those three words, those three mere words, meant everything to me. I didn't expect him to say it back, but somewhere in my heart I begged him to say it. I wanted his cold heart to open up to mine and say it back.

However, all that comes out of his mouth is a painful sigh mixed with a curse.

I feel his body tremble as he averts his hazel gaze back up to my grey ones. It's like he's scared. Scared to admit it.

"Shit," He breathes, making me bite my lip in frustration.

"Is that all you can say?" I growl at him. My heart ached, I felt heartbroken.

"Why did you have to say it? Why!" he grabs my arms and shakes them, avoiding my gaze.

My glare drops as I gasp and stare at the floor. He's right. Why did I have to tell him I love him?

"I don't, I don't love you." He coldly replies, like it's even hard for him to say the word "love."

"You're lying. I know you're lying, Cato. Why won't you just be a man, and admit it? Are you really that scared?" I whisper, bringing up my hand to touch his cheek.

However, he dodges my hand.

I step away from him and cling onto the wall beside us, helplessly letting myself sink onto the floor and hug my knees.

"Katniss," He makes a move to come near me, but I manage to kick him away with my foot.

"Go away," I mutter, leaning my head against my knees and keeping my gaze away from his.

He gives out a frustrated grunt as he brushes pass me, to the other side of the hallway where we were supposed to wait. I hear him punch a wall, before I block all my senses that informs me of my surroundings.

All I can feel right now, is darkness in the pit of my heart. And my body falling, falling, far away. In an imaginary world where there's no such thing as love.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, here's the chapter! Well there's finally an "I love you," except for the fact that Cato won't admit it : It's okay, though! He will, eventually. Like in the next chapter, haha. Also, I noticed I've been getting a lot of complaints that Katniss is too OOC. Yeah, I know. I noticed that like before anyone started saying it. I tried soo hard to make Cato in character, that I guess I kind of forgot about Katniss. Honestly, to me Katniss is a lot harder to portray than Cato. Even if she's the main character. I'll try to make her more in character, like I tried in this chapter. And, for the POV's...I'll either do Peeta's or Gale's, but basically I'm only mainly sticking to Katniss POV and Cato's. Mainly just Katniss, though. Don't worry! They'll be out of District 13 in a few more chapters, and Cato will have his arm fixed in the next chapter...so, I'm excited :D Well, I hope you like and review 33  
><strong>


	19. Undesired Wishes

**Katniss POV**

I tossed against the blankets and buried my head against the pillow, softly inhaling and listening to the sound of running water outside my apartment.

I had a dream, I was in my District again. In my forest, which I owned, I ruled, somewhere where I could be myself again. Run away from all the worries. I felt the light chirp of birds and pine-scented breeze spread across the forest, as I stepped closer towards a young doe that I haven't seen for months. My grip on my bow and arrow tightened, as I crept closer.

But then, I heard a voice calling me.

The deer ran away, I got upset. I know I was supposed to be upset in my dreams, or rather my memories, but hearing "his" voice, his voice that I loved so much brought happiness to my soul.

Gale's voice laughing, calling me Catnip, cheering me up when the situation seems at it's worst.

My eyes shot open, and I began to breathe in more heavily, like I had just woken up from a nightmare.

Of course it was a nightmare. My hunting, that I loved so much, was gone. Like hell President Coin would let me...even if I asked her. And Gale seemed like such a distant memory right now.

All I had now was the constant hate-love relationship between Cato that I was so conflicted about. How could I be so sure that I love a ruthless career like him? He doesn't even admit that he likes me, let alone loves me.

I hadn't seen him, nor did I want to after that meeting with President Coin. She had explained to us that if we were to cause any more drama among the District, she would severely punish us. Sometimes I wonder, though, if she really want us to cause trouble just so she has an excuse to torture us and send us back home inside body bags.

Pulling the covers off, I groggily get off the bed and toss my hair back. I bite my lip while I bring my knees up towards my chest and embrace them.

Staring at the wall in front of me, I decided that I needed to ask President Coin if I could go hunting. No, actually demand it. I need to go hunting. I'm going to die if I don't go hunting within the next couple of days, I can't wait any longer.

Hunting has become a way of life for me, literally.

I change clothes and pull my hair back into a braid before opening the door to my apartment. As I do, I briefly remember that Cato was supossed to have surgery on his arm today.

Oh, whatever. He doesn't need me. He wouldn't want me there, anyway. And personally, I would rather be somewhere else than coddling him like a puppy like I used to when we first arrived in District 13.

I let out a "hmph" before stepping outside the apartment and hearing footsteps above me. I walk out and turn my head upwards to stare at Mason's bandaged face.

He hadn't needed that much medical attention since Cato just merely punched him. But boy, he sure looked like crap right now. I felt so bad.

Stupid Cato and his jealousy issues...

"Hey, Katniss." Mason smiles at me, trying to stretch his arms and act like he's not hurt, but his winces that he gives off every time he tries to move his body tells me otherwise.

"Hey. Are you feeling any better?" I ask, feeling sympathy for him. I wish he hadn't had to pay the price just because Cato was angry with me.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He frowns, trying to change the subject. "Where are you headed?"

I look away from him, trying to avoid eye contact and avert my gaze towards the rocky cavern of the District. "Um, I'm going to the shops. I figured it would give me something to do, and I ran out of apples." I lied, and gave him a sheepish smile.

I knew Mason would flip if I told him I was going to go ask President Coin if I could go hunting, so I knew better than to tell him the truth.

"Alright, I guess I'll see you soon then?" He walks towards the railing and leans against it, while meeting his blue gaze with mine.

"Yeah, see you soon." I give him a slight wave, before taking the steps down towards the entrance of the apartment villa.

* * *

><p><strong>Cato's POV<strong>

"So is the surgery gonna fix my arm, or is it gonna make it worse?" I ask Ebon, who has pacing across the hospital room like he had something on his mind. He seemed very doubtful about going along with this surgery, like he thought something was going to go wrong.

"I don't know. That's the problem." He replies, which makes me sigh in frustration.

"They told me they were going to make special enhancements to your arm. What they mean by that, I have no idea." He explains, with a very intruiged look on his face.

I raise an eyebrow at him. "Special enhancements...what?"

"That's exactly what I said." Ebon makes his way towards where I was sitting on the metal table, with my bandaged arm splayed out against the metal.

"Let me see your arm." He motions, and I manage to raise it without even a wince. It didn't hurt that much, anymore. It actually felt kind of numb, like it was dead. Obviously, that couldn't be good.

He unwraps the bandages and reveals my ugly, scarred arm to the both of us. It was still red, some of the skin around it was dead and purple. It had bruises and severe teeth marks all over it.

"So, what made you snap at Mason like that? Is it because of Katniss?" He asks me trying to make conversation, and I let out an annoyed grunt.

"No, it's not because of Katniss. It's just, I don't like Mason. He's annoying."

Ebon rolls his eyes. "Well whatever it is, keep it amongst yourselves and not in front of the entire District. We can afford to piss of President Coin anymore than she already is."

"Well why don't you tell Katniss to stop-" I sharply inhale, clenching my teeth to stop from finishing my sentence.

"Tell her to stop what?"

"Making me fall in love with her," I reply in a harsh whisper, wishing that Ebon hadn't heard me, but unfortunately for me, he did.

He grew silent, and continued to unwrap my bandages and spread rubbing alcohol on it. Surprisingly, that didn't hurt either. Guess I was really close to losing my arm, or maybe I was too focused on thinking about Katniss to even notice.

"I know you love her." Ebon tells me, which makes me grow angry.

"I never said I love her," I immediately snap. "I said I'm on the verge of falling in love with her, but I don't want to."

"I get it. You don't want to admit it, it's fine." He finishes rubbing alcohol on my arm and puts the bottle cap back on the bottle of liquid that was sitting on the table.

I furiously open my mouth to say something else, before the door opens to the room where me and Ebon were waiting at.

A doctor walks inside the room, along with a few other nurses, although none that I ever seen before. He smiles at me, and motions for me and Ebon to follow him out of the room.

"Cato, I assume? Will you follow me this way, please? We're to begin your surgery right away." He explains, and by the way him and the nurses are properly dressed, I guess that it was going to be a long and complicated procedure.

I sigh, trying to get rid of all the emotions that were flooding inside my body at this point. I slide off the table and give one side-glance look at Ebon before following the doctor and the nurses out of the room.

Barely noticing the silent comment Ebon gave before we left the room, all I could think about is whether I would ever be able to regain the use of my arm or not.

* * *

><p><strong>Katniss POV<strong>

I stare at the main building of the District as I walk towards the entrance. I breathe in shaky gasps of air as my grey gaze strayed over towards the windowed fancy door. I swallow and force myself to open the door and barge inside the building. I wasn't going to allow President Coin to intimidate me. No way.

As I open the door and enter inside the air-conditioned room, I find the front counter of the building who was currently being occupied by this middle-aged woman who obviously didn't know when to stop putting makeup on. She had gallons and gallons of face powder and mascara all over her face, enough to join the circus. Of course, I stopped being impressed with people wearing tons of makeup ever since I met Effie.

When I discover that she's on the phone, I roll my eyes and impatiently step on the floor with my foot back and forth.

By the time a few minutes passed, and she's taking out notes and books to explain to her patient on the phone, I rest my head against the cold counter and childishly begin to play with the silver bell that was placed against the counter.

Amusingly, the lady turns at me and glares as I play with it, so I give out a tiny smile and stop, realizing that I probably shouldn't cause trouble, especially in President Coin's building.

Finally what seems for hours, she gets off the phone and turns to me, giving me a huge fake smile that was enough to put clowns to shame.

"Hello, may I help you?" She asks me, and I nod my head.

"I need to speak with President Coin, please." I blink at her, making my tone of voice more demanding than of a request.

"I'm sorry, she's very busy right now. But if you would stop by again later, I would love to see if she's available for you or arrange an appointment for you to see her." She smiles again, and I know it's just a desperate attempt to shoo me away.

"I don't care if she's busy. I need to speak with her, now." I cross my arms. "Tell her it's Katniss, then she'll let me speak with her."

The lady narrows her eyes. "I know very much who you are, Ms. Everdeen. But don't think you'll receive any type of celebrity treatment from me, you are to be treated as anyone else in this District and are to wait as anyone else."

I nearly laugh out loud.

So, I'm to be treated as everyone else? Yeah right, I thought I was a prisoner.

"I'm not leaving until I see her." I simply say, ignoring the lady's face grow red from anger.

However, the lady manages to keep a smile on, despite her anger towards me. "I will call her, Ms. Everdeen. But don't blame me if you come back with your pretty little braid missing from your hair."

I cease to flinch, as her statement fails to intimidate me.

She dials a number on the phone and brings it up to her ear while she nervously swallows a gulp of air. Seeing her react this way made me believe that all President Coin's employees were afraid of her.

Silence spreads across the room as I watch her with the phone pressed against her ear, and as she nervously taps the pen against her desk.

"Hello, Mrs. Coin. Um, there is someone who wishes to speak with you and she's waiting at the front desk."

I hear a pause.

The lady glares at me and nods through the phone. "Yes, I told her of your very busy schedule but she refused to listen. I also told her to leave, and to come back later but she insists that she is to talk with you right now, Mrs. Coin."

After that, the lady responds with a couple of nods and "okays" before hanging up the phone and staring at me.

"I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience we've caused you." She nearly sneers, and I could guess that I've been accepted by President Coin to speak with her.

"President Coin will be waiting for you upstairs at the very main hallway when you first enter, and through a huge door, you can't miss it." She tells me, and I give her a slight nod.

She goes back to work on her paperwork as I make my way towards the fancy white stairs, up to the next floor of the building. I ascend up the stairs while I drag my fingers across the railing, slightly fantasizing living here in District 13 with my mother and Prim. It's not so bad, I mean it's sort of cool if you didn't include the fact that I was being kept prisoner here. District 13 would be a very nice place to live in, but as long as President Coin was in power I think I would rather live in one of the career districts than here.

I make it upstairs and search through all the different hallways to find the huge, main one in the center. The walls had flower designs on them while pottery and paintings were put up in each one of the walls.

The hallways smelled nice, like flowery scented perfume. It might have been nice, if I wasn't dreading the fact of seeing President Coin again. I didn't know what she would say, and frankly, I didn't want to know. But at this point I didn't care because the only thing on my mind right now was the freedom of being in the forest, and being able to hold my bow and arrow again.

I walk across the main hallway and come to a stop once I reach the main entrance to President Coin's office, or room, or whatever. Two heavily armed guards holding machine guns looked down at me, towering over me like some kind of building.

I got the feeling that it was President Coin's intentions to scare whoever wished to speak with her.

"Ms. Everdeen, correct?" One of them gruffly asked, waving their gun towards the door.

"Well, yes." I try to avoid eye contact with them, but was finding it difficult since their cold, dark eyes were gazing straight through mine.

"Go on ahead inside." They told me, remaining in their positions against the sides of the door.

I slowly open it, barely noticing the fluorescent light inside the room as I creep inside.

I enter the room, and am found staring at the faces of several guards and elites, as well as President Coin. They were all chatting amongst each other, rather seriously before I came in and interrupted. It made me curious as to what they were talking about.

"Well, hello Katniss." President Coin raises an eyebrow at me, like she was intrigued by my very existence inside this room.

I don't answer her. Instead, I just stare around her room, particularly at her weapons that she had placed up on her wall. Noticing the bow and arrow she had, I stare it it with greed.

"What brings you here?" She asks me, and I could tell she wasn't going to be friendly with me, just by her tone of voice and because she didn't invite me to sit down somewhere.

"I need to tell you something." I hesitate as soon as I notice that the guards were taking a step closer towards me.

"Oh, Katniss. My dear, Katniss. What makes you think that you can just waltz in here like you own the place, especially in my quarters?" She sighs, completely unaware of the guards walking closer towards me.

I instinctively take a step back. "I just really needed to talk with you."

She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms while the elites stare at me like some piece of meat about to be won over by a pack of savage wolves. "Well, spit it out then."

"I want to go hunting." I tell her, and the whole room erupts in chuckles.

One of the elites glare at me. "Aww the little District 12 filth misses her stupid hunting,"

I tremble with anger. _Filth..._ That reminds me so much of Cato's insults. Of course, he probably hangs out with these jerks.

"Enough." President Coin orders, which causes the elites to shut their mouths.

"No, Katniss you can't go hunting. It's too much of a risk to the District, what if the search planes see you?"

I bite my lip and stare at the floor.

"What if I want them to see me? If they see me that means I get to go home, right?" I bitterly say to myself, ignoring the continuous chatter emitting inside the room.

They completely ignored me, and kept on doing what they were previously doing.

I instantly lift my head to glare at each one of them, especially President Coin. "It wasn't a question, it was an order! I'm going hunting, whether you arrogant bastards like it or not!"

The chatting stops, and the elites glare daggers at me.

President Coin stares at me once again, before walking over towards her desk. "There is no need to use vulgar language, Katniss. I understand. But, understand that I cannot permit you to go hunting."

"I'll do anything!" I shout, feeling my voice grow desperate.

Every minute I spent in this District, I felt weak. I wasn't myself anymore. Here, I wasn't allowed to do anything and all the power I had was being drained from my body. Here, I had nothing to live for. I didn't have Prim here, or my mother, or Gale, or Peeta. Nobody.

I just had Cato, who currently was not on my side.

"What if I sent your dead body back home? That would certainly send a message to the Capitol, wouldn't it? Their precious girl on fire, killed. By us." President Coin's cold, grey eyes dangerously gleamed through mine with a murderous intention.

I barely stare at her, only averting my gaze towards the floor and fluttering my eyes shut.

"Or what if I sent them a video of you beaten and bloodied, they would certainly give me a large amount of money for you, wouldn't they?" She continues, and I could hear devilish snickers coming from the elites.

Right now, I didn't know if she was telling the truth or just merely bluffing.

"Don't you dare try and threaten me, Coin." I sneer, throwing every ounce of hatred and venom when I say her name.

"You don't have the authority to tell me what I can and can't do, Ms. Everdeen." She narrows her eyes at me. Those grey orbs, that are so alike mine, but so different as well.

"It's not authority, it's a mere matter of respect. Which you clearly seem to not have." I retort.

"Why on earth should I respect you, Everdeen? If you have failed to show me respect as well. I suggest you think before you open that loud-mouth of yours." She remains calm, despite the heated argument we were currently having.

She silently makes her way towards the other side of the room, where a painting sat against the wall. Surprisingly, it showed each of the twelve districts in order, with the sign of the capitol in the center covered with radiant colors and several quotes.

She brushed her fingers across it, keeping her gaze away from mine and focused onto the painting. "This was brought back when District 13 first detached themselves from the Capitol and into hiding. It's a reminder of our freedom." She turns to look at me, and I narrow my eyes. Curious to where she was going with this.

"Each of the District play their part and work together. Preferably the underdog districts work together, while the career districts work together. Their enemies, that's how it's always been and always will be. You are an underdog, Everdeen. Do not forget that. And you are definitely playing with fire by associating yourself with that career."

I blink at her. "I get it. I know, I won't talk to him ever again."

"Ah, but see Katniss? You can't help yourself when you're around him, can you? He seems to understand you two can't be together, he told me he can't stand being around you. He doesn't want you. Can't you see that?" She starts to walk away from the painting, probably gleaming with pride on the inside while she watches me tremble with anger.

"He contemplates killing you, Katniss. Since you're but a mere burden to him." She continues.

"Shut up! You're lying!" I seethe, however my hurtful gaze tells her otherwise.

"He hates you, Katniss. You're nothing but _filth _ to him." She states, and I could almost picture her wallowing in complete glee right now.

"Be quiet," I helplessly stare at the floor, feeling sadness, guilt, and regret enter through my body.

"You are an underdog, Katniss. Always was and always will be. You are nothing." Her painful words repeat in my mind over and over again as I drown myself with my own pity. As soon as I snap out of this trance, however, I angrily reach out and grab a knife that was sitting on the table before lunging out and throwing it right at President Coin's head.

She moves out of the way, and stares at me with utter shock. We both watch as the knife hits the wall behind her, instead.

"You insolent child! Get out! Get out of my office, now! Or I will have my guards personally escort you out themselves."

Panting with rage, I make my way towards the few weapons that were hung up inside her office and grab the bow and arrow.

"Don't you dare grab that bow and arrow, Everdeen. If you do-" She sneers, but I quickly interrupt as I make my way outside the room.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm an underdog, remember? I'm too stupid too understand you." I sarcastically argue back, before shutting the door behind me and storming out of the place. I swing the bow and arrow over my shoulder and practically run downstairs, ignoring the weird looks other people gave me, including the lady from the front counter.

I open the door and run outside, my first thought to get anywhere, out of this District. Somewhere where there was woods or nature-abundant.

For once, I didn't care about anyone or anything. I only cared about hunting, right then and that moment.

* * *

><p><strong>President Coin's POV<strong>

I nearly knock over one of my antiques sitting on my desk as I pace across the room like a madwoman. I curse Katniss and everyone in her district. How dare she, how dare she have the audacity to storm into my office and announce that she was going hunting whether I liked it or not, throw a knife at my head, and take my prized bow and arrow?

All in the same day!

That insolent girl, I should have her hung by her braid while the elites tear her apart.

The elites and guards nervously watch me, anticipating my ordering them to do something.

I turn to face them, heaving out angry pants. "Bring her back to me. With my bow and arrow. I want you to test her. See if she can face the wrath of District 13, show her that we will not be disrespected." I order the elites, watching as sadistic grins creep onto each one of their faces.

As the elites leave the room, I walk towards the window to stare outside at my beautiful District. Proud and free, and that's how it was going to stay.

I was going to break Katniss Everdeen.

With my own blood and sweat if I had to.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

_I'm so sorry guys! I know, I know, it's been like almost three weeks since my last update. But, I got sick last week and I've been caught up with so much homework and projects, it's crazy!_

_I wanted to make this chapter longer, but I made it a little bit shorter cuz I didn't want you guys to think I gave up on this story because I hadn't updated in weeks._

_Anyways, gosh I'm so happy! Over 300 reviews wow! :D I hope you like this chapter, and please review so we can make it up to 400! Haha, and I promise I'll update sooner next time.  
><em>

_Until next time!__ :) Sorry, no "I love you" from Cato in this chapter :(_**  
><strong>


	20. Deadly Possessions

**Katniss POV**

I carefully climb over the iron fence that covered the entrance of District 13, and manage to make a drop down without accidentally breaking a foot. The fence was rather high, and I was already slightly out of breath from climbing through the caverns and crevices that led up to the entrance of District 13.

If their goal was to make it hard for anyone to leave or anyone to get in, they sure achieved it.

As I stare out into the green grass and breathe in the natural air, that wasn't carbonated for once, I nearly melt with happiness. Placing the bow beside me, I slowly lean down to touch the grass, and feel it's softness and life again.

It feels as if I hadn't seen grass in years.

_I miss this... I miss this so much._

I pick up the bow and adjust it over my shoulder, while I get up from the grass and make my way towards the trees.

By instinct, I avoid stepping on leaves or anything that might make too much noise, since it might scare the prey away. I was glad Gale taught me this when we were younger, the first time I hunted I sucked. I nearly scared all the prey away, even though I was skilled with my bow and arrow.

As soon as I heard the chirping of birds, I stopped in my tracks and raised the bow and arrow towards the trees up above that they might be resting on. It's not exactly the kind of prey that I had hoped for, but at least it's something. I doubt there would be any deers or rabbits roaming by.

I slowly grabbed a nearby pebble and threw it up high in the air, towards the spot where I thought the birds were. A few of them flew up, but as soon as I sent my arrow flying it missed by an inch.

I gave out a sigh of frustration as I picked up another pebble and threw it again. This time with a great amount of force, that I actually hit a bird while it was just about to raise itself into the air. The rock bounced off it's body, and sent the bird tumbling down onto the forest floor. It gave off a weak flap of it's wings before I shot it with an arrow to end it's life.

I shrug. At least I managed to kill one.

I usually could have shot one or two of the birds fairly easily, but I guess this time I hadn't practiced hardly enough or I wasn't used to this bow and arrow.

Making my way towards the dead bird, I pull out the arrow and wipe it clean with the grass before I put it back with my quiver of arrows. Realizing I forgot to being a knife to skin it, or a bag to carry it, I mutter a loud curse. My mind was too focused on getting the bow and arrow and going hunting that I completely forgot about those necessities. I guess I would have to carry it with my hands then.

I groan and throw another pebble out of sheer anger, before grabbing another arrow from the quiver and sending it flying towards a bird. This time, the arrow managed to hit straight through it, sending it flying towards another bush.

I smile at my success, before making my way through the leaves and trees that brushed against my skin as I tried to make my way towards the bush where the bird might have fallen. Having caught no sight of the bird, I heave a sigh of disappointment.

Great...

As soon as I start to walk back towards where I left the dead bird, I hear a crackle of leaves, signaling that there was someone walking across them. I could tell which animal caused the crackle of the leaves, whether it was large or small. However, this was no animal. It sounded like a human's footsteps.

Feeling my body freeze, I turn my head around to scan my surroundings of any possible danger. What if it's another search party? Or President Coin's guards?

I don't make any noise, not even the slightest breathing. If it was a search party, I needed to get their attention. But, I couldn't risk it. It was probably most likely one of President Coin's henchmen.

As the footsteps died down, I waited for a few minutes before walking towards where they came from. I was careful to hide my body among the shadows of the trees, since if it might be one of the guards or the elites. If I see one of them...I swear, I'll punch their faces in.

I hesitantly step out of the safety of the trees, as I find myself outside of the forest and inside a green valley, abundant with varieties of flowers. I was beautiful and for a second I forgot all about the footsteps that I had recently heard. A small breeze surged though the grass and flowers, causing them to swing back and forth like a rhythm.

The valley was right next to a lake, since I smelled nearby water, and heard a distant crashing of waves down below. I start to walk forwards, turning my back against the forest to stare at the valley and the flowers. I noticed I was on a hill, surrounded by flowers. Staring at all these flowers instantly reminded me of Prim. Since she was named after a flower. Sadness replaced the peaceful serenity I was feeling a few minutes ago once I begin to think about Prim.

I wonder how she's doing? And if my mother's taking proper care of her. Oh gosh, I miss her so much. Waking up to her little face, always bright with sunshine and cheerfulness. She was always so happy. She always kept our dysfunctional family full of life, even after father's death. Prim, Prim.. I'm so sorry.

I barely feel the gust of air rushing towards me, as I wallow in sadness and guilt. To think I actually forgot about her when I was thinking of going hunting! She's my first priority! My first priority over hunting or anything!

Just as I began to scold myself, I turn around right in time to see a knife coming straight at me, flying through the air with incredible speed. Just as it's about to hit me, I gasp and drop to the floor, letting my body roll down the hill and hit the grass below.

As I support my fall, I tremble and instantly push myself off the grass. I clumsily take a few steps back before wildly panting and scanning the area. Seeing a few elites running my way, I begin to run across the valley to try to get away from them. However, this quickly ends as I'm grabbed by a nearby elite who was faster than me, and forcefully thrown against the grass. I try to to get up, but the elite kicks me in the stomach.

I yelp and kick him back, blindly punching in the air as more elites start to approach.

The elite holds my hands together against the ground as he sits himself on top of me, causing my to flail around like a fish out of water.

"Don't move," He says. "Or we'll have to hurt your pretty little face."

He grins at me, and anger flashes across my grey gaze as I spit right in his face.

He wipes his face off with his sleeve and curses, before punching me right across the face.

I cough as the impact leaves my cheek and lip severely bruised. I carefully lick my lip and taste blood. Moving my head sideways so I could avoid their gaze, I heard a couple shouts from the elites, warning him not to hurt my face. I have no idea why.

"I think I'll enjoy hurting you, District 2's little pet." He sneers into my ear, which makes me shiver with disgust.

"I'm not anyone's pet!" I shout, turning myself over and forcefully knocking him off. As I try to crawl away, he grabs a knife and sinks it into my leg, causing me to scream in pain.

I bring my leg to my chest as I cradle it and scream once more. The agony was unbearable.

Some of the elites began to laugh when they saw me in such pain, and I felt like cursing them all. The elite that sank his knife into my leg, pulls it out as he draws closer to me, holding me down while he gets on top of me, once again.

A few of the other elites hold my arms down as I weakly flail around again, not wanting to appear weak in front of them.

"Hmm, no wonder Cato talks about you so much." The elites begins to stroke my face, which causes me to tremble.

"You're beautiful. Too bad, I have to hurt you, though." He removes his hand from my cheek and back to his knife, where he roughly pulls up my shirt and cuts through my stomach.

I painfully scream again, as the elite quickly puts his hand over my mouth to quiet me. I bite my lip and try to cough, but his hand is suffocating me. My gaze weakly averts over towards the bow and arrow and quiver that had fallen off my shoulder when I had fallen down the hill. It was still lying across the grass a couple feet away from me.

I try to reach for it, but with all the strength of the elites on my body, it's no use.

"Stop struggling, you filth." The elite spats, and roughly grabs my face to look at his gaze.

"Stupid District 12. You underdog. Nothing. You're pathetic. I don't even know why your District even exists. Even the Capitol's getting fed up with their shit, they're planning to bomb that crappy District once and for all." He grins, and I glare at him with complete and utter hatred.

"Aww. Am I making you mad? Look...the little rat is mad." He boasts, causing a few of the elites to chuckle.

Forgetting about the pain in that moment, I forcefully shake off the elites' grip on my arms and punch the guy in the face.

I watch as he wails in pain, before getting up and running towards the bow and arrow. I slide it over my shoulder as I quickly limp across the valley, trying to get away from the elites who were now chasing me like madmen.

I whimper in pain as I put pressure on my bleeding leg each time I limp. Seeing the elites getting closer to me, I turn around and send one of my arrows flying straight at them, hitting one of the elites in the shoulder.

The elite screams in pain, and falls to the ground, as I hit another one who falls to the ground right after him.

I begin to limp-run again, as the elites stare at me, dumb-founded. However, as soon as the elite that was holding me down barks orders at them, they continue to run after me, more cautiously this time.

Each time I take a step is agony, so I breathe out shaky pants to try to calm myself down.

A knife is sent flying towards me, so I drop down and fall down the rocky cliff that I was running towards. I inhale sharply as I try to avoid sharp rocks as much as possible. As soon as I come to a stop, I get up and walk forwards. However, what lies in front of me is a death fall below into the crashing waves of the lake.

Looking behind me, I discover several of the elites climbing down the cliff, some of them even running towards me.

I begin to pant again as I try to figure out what to do.

If I jump, I'll most likely die.

But, if I don't...

President Coin will do something terrible to me.

So it's kind of a Death vs. Death situation..

I let out a frustrated grunt as I close my eyes, jumping off the cliff, inches before the elites get to the spot where I was at. One of them reached for me, but they missed as I was sent to the watery death below me.

As I hit the water, the impact slapped my body, so it stung like crazy. I tried to lift my head above water and wail around, but a wave hitting me interrupted me. I opened my eyes, trying to see around the darkness of the water. As another wave hit, I'm sent flying backwards onto a nearby rocky wall. A sharp pain is sent through my entire left shoulder, and I barely have enough time to look at it before I feel myself running out of oxygen.

I swim towards the surface and take a few gasps of air before swimming in another direction, trying to avoid the waves throwing me back and forth like a rag doll. I whimper again, as I hold my shoulder, which is now bleeding. And my leg, feels numb as I try to move it along the waves. As I see shore, I clench my teeth in pain and move forward with agonizing pain.

I had to make it to shore.

Or else, I knew I was going to bleed to death.

* * *

><p><strong>Cato's POV<strong>

"How are you feeling?" I hear Ebon ask me, although his voice seems far away due to all the anesthetics given to me.

I flutter my eyes open and stare at him, slowly sitting myself up on the bed with his help. "Fine, my arm still hurts a little." I say, gaping at being able to look at my bare arm again. Most of the dead tissue was removed, so it was back to it's normal tan color again. Although, it still looked a little pale. As I moved it, I could see stitches around it.

"Woah." I blink, smiling at my ability to move my arm again. It felt so nice. Having all those bandages around it all the time made it feel heavy.

"Looks a lot better, huh?" Ebon grins, leaning back on the chair he was sitting on next to my bed.

"Yeah," I try to move out of the bed, but Ebon tries to stop me.

"You should wait a little while before you try getting up, unless you really feel good enough." He explains, but I merely shrug.

"I'm fine." I slide off the bed and move my arm a little bit more. "This is so great."

"Hey, what were the special enhancements they were talking about?" I ask.

"Oh, they added special enhancements to your arm to make it stronger. Cool, huh? Although, I guess it'll make you more of a handful than you already are." Ebon chuckles, which causes me to glare.

"What do you mean, stronger?"

"Try punching something. This time you do double the damage. Not like super strength, but lets say your arm can knock people a few feet back if you punch them good enough. That's what I mean. It's a little bit stronger than your regular arm."

I stare at my arm and smirk. "Cool,"

Before he has time to reply, a couple guards rush into the room, along with Boggs, who seemed deeply distressed. He was panting, his whole face was red, along with his shaky gaze.

"Boggs, what is it?" Ebon turned away from me, intrigued by the sight that stood before him.

Boggs pulled at his hair and cursed, muttering a "sorry" each time he panted.

"I should've been there, I should've prevented it from happening." He silently spoke, desperately trying to keep himself from hitting something.

"Boggs, what's wrong! Tell me!" Ebon pressed, shaking the older man's shoulders this time.

"It's Katniss. President Coin got upset with her, so she sent elites after her, and-we don't know where she is now." Boggs explained, finally meeting his gaze with Ebon's. "Damn that woman, damn her."

I felt my heart freeze, and my body grow cold.

"Oh god, how could this happen! Shit.." Ebon's face paled, and as he turned around, he grabbed a nearby flask from a table and threw it against a wall, watching it as it broke into a million pieces. "SHIT!"

I barely heard the flask as it collided to the wall across from me. My fists were clenched beside me, and I could feel my mind spin.

"We have to find her! Now!" Ebon barked orders at the several guards who were inside the room, whom I guessed were loyal to him, not to President Coin.

"I knew this would happen...knowing Katniss," Ebon continued to curse himself, while self-consciously pacing across the room.

"I'll find her," I say, feeling my eyes grow cold as I walk out of the room.

"Cato," Ebon warns, but I ignore him.

I nearly kick the door open and exit the room. Before continuing down the hallway, I spot several of the elites, wounded, holding their bleeding shoulders. Anyone could tell by their wound that it was made by an arrow.

Blinded by anger and rage, I lunge forward and manage to grab both of them, punching them square in the face and knocking them a few steps back into the wall. Well, the special enhancements really did work.

I ignore their screams and yelps as I grab one of them by the hair, violently knocking him back against the wall.

"Where is she!" I growl, clenching my teeth and putting my face inches away from his.

"I don't know..I don't-" He began to say, but I punched him in the stomach and spun him around.

"Help! Help, please!" He cried, however the nurses were to frightened to help. Instead, they called for backup.

"Tell me! Fucking tell me! Or I'll snap your arm in two. And believe me, I'll enjoy hearing the crunching sound when it finally snaps.." I sadistically grinned, feeling my normal self slowly fade away. My psychopathic personality began to creep out, as I felt like I was in the Games again.

No fear. No mercy.

I started to twist his arm, unaware of his screams of agony and his cries for help. The only thing I cared about right then, was to make his arm snap like a twig. I wasn't a person anymore. I didn't have any remorse or guilt.

"Please stop! Please! I'll do anything! She-the District 12 girl, she- was in the forest, outside of the District, last time we saw her. But, she jumped down into the lake, we couldn't find her! We tried! Please, let me go...please.." He panted for air, and screamed once again as I continued to move his arm in a twisted position.

I didn't even care if he told the truth at that point, I was so angry. I wanted to hurt him.

"Cato! Cato! Stop! STOP!" I heard Ebon shout.

But before I had any time to look at him, I was yanked away from the elite and tossed back into a wall.

I watched as the elite panted for air and painfully held his aching arm.

"What were you thinking! You could've broke his arm! Do you realize that?" Ebon sneered into my face, but I coldly pushed him back.

"Shut up, I don't give a crap what could've happened to him. I'm going to find Katniss, and you're not going to stop me." I argue back, shoving all the guards out of the way and making my way out of the hospital.

My first priority was to find Katniss. Then I was going to beat the shit out of any elite who even dared lay a hand on her.

She was mine.

Only mine.

* * *

><p><strong>Katniss POV<strong>

I shiver from both the freezing ice cold water and the cool breeze that was in the air. I don't know how long I had been wading in the water for, but it seemed forever. And the sun was beginning to go down.

I cough out lake water as I finally make it onto dry land, a well always from the forest that I had found when I first discovered the entrance of District 13.

Now, I could imagine I was far away from the entrance.

I could think if that was a good thing or not.

Trembling from the utter cold, I crawl forwards onto the sand, letting the slight warmth of the descending sun warm my skin. I sharply inhale as I felt the stinging of my wounds again, since the coldness of the water numbed the pain.

I give out a whimper as I helplessly toss around against the sand. With one look at the knife-wound on my leg and on my stomach, I could tell it was getting deeper and infected.

_Why me...?_

_What did I do wrong?_

As the last rays from the sun begins to die down, I manage to slowly get up on my hands and knees, scanning the area for any sort of shelter. I had to find a cave, or some sort of warmth, quick. Or else I was going to freeze to death, as well as bleed to death.

I get up from the sand, water falling down from my face and my entire body. At this point, I couldn't tell if the water on my face was because of the lake or tears.

_I can't cry._

_I have to be strong._

I try to crawl up the hill that was standing in front of the sandy beach, in order to try and get away from the water. However, I fail miserably as my leg explodes in pain and I'm sent falling back down to the beach.

Now laying on the ground again, I punch the sand, feeling frustrated with myself.

I get up from the sand once again, and clench my teeth shut in order to try to resist the pain. I climb up the hill more faster this time, holding in a few yelps of pain each time my wounds would object.

I collapse onto the grass, and to my surprise, see more trees and forests around the valley.

Feeling miserable at this moment, I decide to scream for no reason, instead to just let all the feelings I had inside of me out.

My scream echoes throughout the forest, sending birds flying in all sorts of directions.

I curl myself into a ball and hold my knees against my chest, careful not to touch the wound I had on my leg.

Right after I finished screaming, I breathed in heavy gasps of air, before it gradually reduced itself to a calm, relaxed breathing.

I feel myself drift off into slow darkness as I shut my eyes to try to sleep.

So ironic, that my District thought I was dead for so long. And now, I really am going to die.

I thought that if I had made it out of District 13, I had a chance to go back to my family, my home. But now, I guess my fate is to die. Even if I did survive the Games, I'm still going to die, no matter what.

I let out a miserable chuckle as my smile turns into a frown.

I bite my lip and bury my face into my knees, cursing myself for not being stronger. For being so careless. For allowing myself to be killed by those jerk elites.

As I drown in sorrow with my own thoughts, I barely hear running footsteps sprinting towards me with incredible speed. However, as soon as I open my eyes and see a blur running towards me, I begin to panic and violently toss myself up off the floor in order to try and run. I didn't even know who it was, but I couldn't take any chances.

Who else would be running towards me if it wasn't an elite?

"Katniss! Katniss!" I hear the voice shout, but I ignore them as I try to keep my grip on the bow and arrow.

I trip and fall onto the floor, injuring my leg even worse. I try to hold in a scream as I cradle it against me.

"Katniss! Stop, it's me!" The voice says again, sounding more familiar this time. However, my survival instinct gets the best of me as I whirl at my pursuer and pull one of my arrows out, letting it fly free.

To my horror, I instantly recognize Cato staring at me with a shocked expression.

Cato..

"Cato, look out!" I scream, stupidly running towards him, although I knew it was no use.

Seeing the arrow, he immediately dropped to the ground and rolled out of the arrow's way, letting it fall a few inches next to him.

I let out a sigh of relief. Why was I even worried? I knew he would dodge the arrow, I mean he's a career. But, still.

He gets up off the ground and glares at me. "What was that for?" He sneers.

I limp towards him. "I thought you were one of the elites! You idiot, never scare me like that again! I could've killed you!"

"I heard you scream! I got worried. And kill me, psh. Please, Firegirl. In your dreams." He smirks at me, which makes my heart melt. I couldn't be happier to see him, although I didn't want to show it.

"First of all, I screamed because I felt like it. And second of all, I could so kill you with my arrow, Cato. You may have the upper body strength, but I have the ranged strength."

"Who the hell screams because they want to? Never do that again, I thought someone was killing you." Cato narrows his eyes, keeping his gaze fixed onto mine.

He was actually worried about me?

I feel a slight blush rise to my cheeks as I continue to lip towards him. However, just as I'm about to reach him, I feel a sharp pain explode into my leg again, causing me to fall forwards.

Just before I fall, Cato catches me in his arms and slowly brings the both of us down into the grass, while he shushes my whimpering and heavily breathed labor due to the pain.

"I got you, It's okay." He strokes my hair back and continues to hold me in his arms. "Shh.."

I bite my lip to keep from whimpering anymore as I softly rest my head against his chest, listening to the soft beating of his heart.

"Who did this to you? Tell me, I'll kick their ass." He silently growls into my ear, sending shivers down my spine.

No matter if he was trying to protect me, I hated hearing his cold voice. I loved his other caring, soothing voice.

"No Cato, you don't have to-" I mumble, feeling the words slip out of my mouth. I tried shutting my eyes, since all I wanted to do was fall asleep.

"It's alright. Go to sleep, Katniss. I'm here. I'll always be here. I won't let anyone else hurt you, I promise. I love you.."

I barely catch the last words he says, since he manages to say it right above a whisper. The only thing I see is darkness surrounding my vision as I feel myself being lifted and carried in Cato's arms.

* * *

><p><strong>President Coin's POV<strong>

Having the elites return and tell me of Katniss's incident was deeply upsetting for me. I never wanted her dead, I merely wanted the elites to teach her a lesson. Maybe that had took it a tad too far.

"Incompetent idiots," I mutter, before walking over to my window.

I sent in at least six elites and they failed to bring me back a mere sixteen year old girl?

Hearing the door behind me open, I turn around to be faced with Ebon's furious face.

"President Coin, with all due respect, how could you do this? We need Katniss, you can't hurt her. Same with Cato."

I roll my eyes. "Calm yourself, Ebon. We will find the girl soon enough. She failed to show me respect, so she deserved to be punished. This is exactly why I hate children, Ebon."

"We can't find her. Cato just went looking for her. Hopefully he finds her, if not.." Ebon continues but I quiet him.

"Katniss is a very brave girl, she'll survive. That's why I was testing her. And she passed, since she sent two of my elites to the hospital. Can't you see Ebon, I'm trying to test them. I've tested Katniss, and next I'm going to test Cato. It's all in preparation for the 75th annual Hunger Games." I explain.

"You can't be serious. You're not honestly thinking to put them in the arena, are you?" Ebon incredulously stared at me.

"We have to Ebon, we have no other choice. It's all planned. The arena, the bombing of District 12, everything. Besides, we'll certainly surprise the District with the return of their former tributes to attend in these Hunger Games."

Ignoring anything else Ebon had to say, I turn to look outside my window.

As I felt a smile creep onto my lips, I couldn't help but think that the 75th Hunger Games were going to be far more intriguing than the rest.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

Hey guys! Thanks for all the reviews, I'm so glad so many people like my story, it really inspires me to write :'D Well, this chapter is sort of depressing, but at least Cato finally says I love you! If Katniss even heard him..haha. Well the next chapter is Cato getting tested by President Coin, and just to warn you, his is much worse than Katniss's. D: Dun Dun Dun Dun! Well, at least it adds to the drama. Hope you like this chapter! ^.^


	21. Bloody Heartbreaker

**Katniss POV**

_I look around. I'm in the arena again. I can see the evergreen forest and the chirping of mockingjays as I look up and around my surroundings. As soon as I see blurred objects in the distance, I move forward and instantly recognize the bloody faces of the tributes that I killed. _

_Marvel is glaring at me, with an arrow stuck inside his chest. Blood is pouring down his chin as he mumbles words, most likely insults. "I had family too, you know. I had my parents, my little siblings, but now I'm dead. I can't ever see them again." He speaks, tears pouring down his cheeks and mixing with the blood._

_I blink at him, helplessly trying to come up with words. "I had to. I didn't want to, but it was the Games. And-..you killed Rue," _

_I glare back at him, but his bloody figure disappears._

_A new figure shows, and it's Glimmer. Her face is severely infected and puffed out, her beauty is gone. She's screaming. And she's in pain. "I hate you! I hate you so much! I'll get you for this," She shouts, and before I even have time to run away, tracker jackers are sent flying towards me._

_Their stings feel like an agonizing burning sensation, and I start to hallucinate again._

_First, the careers are chasing me, including Cato. When he wanted to kill me in the arena. Their laughing and mocking me, as they start to stab me with their spears. Their faces change into the familiar faces of the elites, who are also sadistic and powerful. _

_I shut my eyes to try to avoid the pain until the pain stops, and I open them again. _

_I'm surrounded by complete darkness. At first, silence emits the room, but then I hear painful cries and screams. I see Gale being tortured again, crying out to me for help, but of course I can't help him. I see Rue sadly frowning at me, with blood running down her chest._

_"Katniss, help me!" Gale screams._

_"Katniss, why didn't you save me?" Rue asks._

_"Katniss,"_

_"Katniss, why?"_

_"Katniss...Katniss..."_

_I shake my head and sink down onto the floor, dropping to my knees. "Stop it, please stop! Stop..." I try and pant for air as soon as I feel the oxygen beings sucked out from my lungs. _

_I whimper and put my hands over my ears to try and block out their cries and screams. _

_"Katniss..."_

"Katniss." I hear a familiar voice say, this time outside of my horrible nightmare.

"Stop, stop..." I moan, and turn against the sheets that were covering me. The bed felt small, and the smell of the room felt familiar. It smelled of cool air and anesthetics. My eyes silently flutter open, and my grey orbs are instantly met with Ebon's.

"Ebon," I weakly croak, before feeling my damp hair covered in sweat. I was inside the hospital, on one of their beds.

Ebon stares at me with slightly narrowed eyes, as he leans back on the small chair that he was sitting on next to my bed. "Had a nightmare, huh? How are you feeling?" He asks.

I frown and look away while placing my hand over my hot forehead. "Fine," I reply.

"What was the nightmare about?" He raises his eyebrow at me. I quickly figure that I had to tell him about my nightmare, or else he would keep bugging me about it. Ebon was the type of guy that would always comfort you, but he would keep pressing on about your fears or worries, even if you didn't want to say.

"Nothing, really.." I shrug, painfully staring at the wall in front of us. "It was just about all the people who I couldn't save. And all the people I killed in the arena. The careers chasing me, and the elites-"

The memory hits me like solid stone. President Coin, the elites chasing after me. That must've triggered my nightmare. Great. My nightmares were becoming constant lately. Not just when I was in the arena, but about Gale, District 13, and that witch President Coin.

"Where's Cato?" I find myself asking Ebon. I forgot, he had found me. He carried me back, but he wasn't here with me now.

"He's in the other room. Either that, or he's trying to find the elites and kill them." Ebon dryly replied. I guessed that he had tried to tell Cato otherwise, but of course, Ebon had failed.

I roll my eyes and heave a stressed sigh. Can Cato manage to keep out of trouble for more than a minute? I gaze down at my body and discover clean bandages on my stomach, where the elite had cut me with his knife. Thankfully, it wasn't too deep.

"Can I get up yet?" I ask, but really, Ebon and I both knew that I was going to get up either way no matter what he had said.

"Well, uh-" Ebon gave out a frustrated sigh, realizing that too. "Sure," He merely replied, and started to help me off the bed. "Just try not to do anything too physical, like you usually do."

A small smile tugged on my lips. "I won't,"

I gently heave myself off the bed and happen to walk right in front of a mirror that was next to the door. My image was ghastly. All the nice tan from my color was drained, and was now pale because of all the blood loss. My lips were slightly dry, and my hair was still pulled back in a messy ponytail. Before leaving the room, I let my hair down and stare at it's natural pretty waves.

Ebon opens the door for me and lets me out, and my grey gaze is instantly met with a couple nurses that were on break and currently sitting on one of the couches. Some of them sent me a low scowl or glare, while others merely smiled.

I blinked and avoided their gaze, quickly following Ebon into the other room, which was the lounge.

I first see Boggs at the table, and then I see Cato. They're both talking amongst themselves, before Cato and I make breif eye contant. His beautiful hazel eyes are distressed and serious, like staring at me was painful for him.

"Nice to see you again, Katniss. How are you feeling?" Boggs asks me, which interrupts me and Cato staring at each other.

"I'm feeling fine. Thanks, Boggs." I smile, and turn to glance at Ebon who was gesturing towards Boggs.

"Boggs, why don't you and me go into the other room?" Ebon silently explains, leaving me and Cato confused. However, Boggs instantly gets it.

He gives a smirk. "Sure, Ebon." Boggs stares at the both of us, before leaving the room with Ebon.

I suddenly roll my eyes and lean back against the wall. Of course. They left because they wanted to leave me alone with Cato.

Instead of meeting eye contact with him again, I stare over at the other side of the room. However, I hear the sound of him getting up from the chair and taking a few steps towards me. Before I even have time to look at him, his muscular body is pressing mine against the wall, while he softly presses his forehead against mine.

"I was worried, about you." He murmurs into my ear, which makes tingles go down my spine.

"You don't have to worry about me," I reply, forcing my gaze onto his.

"I should've killed those elites." He gives out a silent growl, and I know that he means it. I shake my head and slowly place my arms around his neck.

"No. If you did that, you know what President Coin would've done to you." I sigh.

"I don't care. I'll kill that damn woman myself," He scoffs, bringing his forehead away from mine.

"You can't cause trouble. Promise me you won't. Please?" I rest my forehead against his shoulder and bite my lip. "Promise me ..." I whisper, which makes him go tense.

He stays in silence for several seconds as he lets out a frustrated sigh. I could tell it was hard for him not to. But he had to understand that it wasn't okay to crack someone's ribcage open just because you didn't like them. As much as I wanted to wipe that evil smirk off of President Coin's face...and shoot her with one of my arrows...I knew we couldn't as long as we were prisoners here in District 13.

"I won't," He curls his lip in anger.

"Promise?" I give him a glare. The type of glare that a mother would to her disobedient child, or the type of glares I give to Prim when she's done something wrong.

He blinks at me in surprise, before giving me one of his infamous smirks a few seconds later. "I promise,"

"That's a good career." I praise him, and both of us smile at each other.

"Whatever, Firegirl." He brings his forehead against mine again. We stare at each other for a few silent seconds, until he brings his lips close to mine.

I instantly kiss him, as he kisses back. The kiss is passionate at first, with him pushing me back harder against the wall. The wound on my stomach begins to hurt, but I try to ignore it. He realizes this, and relaxes. His kisses becoming more sweet and gentle. We both break apart for a few seconds, and let out slight pants of air.

He plants light kisses down my collarbone, until inhaling a sharp intake of air. "I want you . . ." He breathes.

I remain silent, before kissing him back. "Let's go outside, kay? I need some fresh air." I say, and take his hand in mine.

He nods and follows me outside of the hospital, and into the carbonated fresh air. I try to look for someplace we could go, and instantly spot an area of synthetic grass off into a remote area where nobody seemed to be walking near. There was also a huge fake tree, where it supplied plenty of shade.

I started to approach it, before Cato gave a small grin. "You know, if you want us to be alone...I can just find us both a room-"

I roll my eyes. "Shut up, Cato." I nearly laugh while he chuckles.

When we both get there, Cato silently grabs me from behind and spins me around, causing me to burst into laughter. We're both sent falling onto the synthetic grass, with me on top of him. We both laugh and stare at each other for a few minutes, with him bringing his hand up to my face to softly stroke my cheek. I heave a heavy sigh before leaning my face against his.

He kisses me again, and I can't help but kiss back. He brings his hands down my waist and to my hips, as I place my legs next to his sides. I pull back for a brief moment to get off of him and lay next to him. I cuddle against his side and place my head against his chest.

"Why do I love you . . .?" I silently ask him, more to myself than to him.

He sighs and strokes my hair. "I don't know, Katniss. You tell me."

"Why do you love me, then?" I curiously ask, demanding an answer.

"I don't know, I tried not to-" He sat up from the grass, and rested his elbows on his knees, before pulling his hair back. "But, I couldn't help it. You made me like you. You're so...stubborn, so carefree, beautiful, seductive-"

My laughter interrupted him. "Seductive? How am I seductive? Last time I checked, whenever you kiss me, you look like you're about to tear my clothes off."

He looks the other way and smirks. "I can't help myself. You're just so fucking irresistible,"

"Am I?" I smile at him.

He glances at me. "Yeah," He tugs on my shirt, before pulling me towards him so he could kiss me again. Our lips meet, while I bring my arms around his neck again to run my fingers through his blonde hair.

I pull away for a brief moment. "I love you," I start to say, but he quickly interrupts me with his kisses. "Because you're dangerous and sexy.." I pant with every in between kiss. "You also have a caring side. You're overly protective,"

He pulls away and holds me for several minutes, as I rest my head against his shoulder and hold him back. I never want to let go. I want us to stay like this forever, but it seems like this time is only limited. What would happen to us if we went back to our Districts? It's taboo for a career and people from Districts like mine to even associate with each other, let alone like each other. I would probably never see Cato again.

I close my eyes and snuggle deeper into his chest. I then glance up at him with a pain-filled stare. "Cato," I mumble.

"Yeah?" He meets his gaze with mine, but then notices my sad stare. "Hey..what's wrong?" He softly strokes my cheek.

I stay silent for a few seconds, before taking my gaze away from his and staring at his arm. I realize that it's not in a cast anymore, so I place my hand against his arm and move it up to touch his biceps. "Your arm..it's all better, now." I change the subject.

He scoffs. "You just realized that?"

"Well, I didn't notice before because I was kind of bleeding to death on the floor when you went to find me," I give a sarcastic reply.

"Oh, yeah." He blinks.

"Silly career." I tease him, while rolling my eyes.

He folds his arms over his head. "Shut it, 12."

I narrow my eyes at him while smiling, completely unaware of the footsteps coming towards us. However, hearing Cato's low scowl makes me turn around. Of course, it's Mason.

"Hey, Katniss." He sheepishly says, causing me to blink at him. I hadn't seen Mason for a couple of days, I wondered where he went off to.

Before I have time to answer, Cato stands up and crosses his arms.

"What do you want, you little shit?" He glares at Mason with annoyance, and I could quickly tell that if I didn't act soon, Cato would probably break his neck.

I sigh and stand up as well, putting myself in front of Cato. "Hey, Mason. What's up?" I smile at him.

Mason nervously glances at Cato, and I could guess that he feared him since the incident that they both had. However, he instantly hides his fear and manages to put on an excited grin. "I just wanted to tell you that the Dome is opening up today. You should come see it, it's awesome."

Me and Cato both exchange glances, before I turn to look back at Mason. "No, I don't think so," I turn down his offer, remembering the time when Mason took me to see the Dome. It was some kind of arena, he had said. Like in roman times, two people fight to the death. I didn't want to watch two people tear at each others throats. I already had enough of that in the Games.

But of course, Cato speaks up. "What's it about, anyway?" He asks.

Mason uneasily turns to face Cato, who is glaring at him with hatred. "It's an arena where two people fight each other to the death. The winner gets freedom and luxury." He explains.

I shake my head and sternly stare at Cato, my eyes practically saying "no,"

Obviously, he doesn't listen to me. Watching people kill each other seems to be a favorite fun activity for Cato. He smirks and shrugs. "Sounds like fun. We'll go see it,"

Mason's gaze lights up as he looks at me. "Perfect! It starts today at 1:00 this afternoon,"

I glare at the both of them and cross my arms. "I'm not going," I sternly say.

Cato playfully tugs on my arm. "Come on, Katniss. It'll be fun," He reassuringly says.

I pull my arm away from him. "No! You and I both have a different idea of "fun", I don't want to go." I press.

Before Cato has time to say anything, Ebon shows up towards the remote grass area we were all in, alongside with Boggs. He's holding a paper in his hand, as he stares at both me and Cato. "Hey, the Dome's opening up today. If you guys wanted to go, it starts in about twenty minutes. We should get going so we can get some seats," He holds up the paper, which announces the opening of the Dome and the timing schedule.

I give out a groan.

"I'm surprised it's opening up so early. Usually President Coin announces it later in the year. It should be interesting," Boggs shrugs.

Ebon nods, agreeing with Boggs. "Well come on, lets get there so we can get first seats."

"Hell yeah," Cato exclaims, making his way towards Ebon and Boggs who were beginning to show us the way. I furiously shake my head, but before I have any time to say anything, Mason grabs my arm and drags me with them against my will.

"I hate you guys," I mumble.

We start walking as a group towards the center of the District, where a huge crowd of people were already lining up to get inside, or buying tickets next to the entrance of the Dome. I heard loud announcements over the speakerphone of who would be the two people to fight each other inside the arena.

We followed Ebon towards the front of the line, where they eagerly let him in. I guess they treated the elite guards with respect around here. Hearing all the loud screaming of the crowd inside, I shrink back to hold Cato's hand. He was too busy staring in awe of the Dome, but nevertheless squeezed my hand in reassurance.

"You scared?" He asked me.

I softly shake my head. "No, I just don't wanna get lost. You know, there's a huge crowd and all,"

He chuckles, before holding me close and leading me towards the front row of seats where Ebon was leading us. I took the seat next to Cato's as I watched several men roll their carts full of goodies, such as popcorn, cotton candy, and corn dogs. I felt like I was in a carnival, or an animal show.

Ebon had bought some popcorn, much to my discomfort. He had even asked if me and Cato wanted some, but I rejected. The last thing I wanted to do was eat while I watched people kill each other. I mean, seriously? This is a bloody battle, not some action movie.

"So who's the two people who are gonna fight each other?" I ask Ebon, who's sitting a couple seats away from me, next to Mason and Boggs.

"Usually they pick a few days before the Dome starts, but I think they're gonna pick who goes up today." Ebon explains, which makes me go on edge.

Something isn't right. Boggs was saying that the Dome started early this year, and they didn't even have the two people ready yet. They were most likely gonna pick them from the crowd...Was President Coin planning something?

I bite my lip, and turn to face Cato. "Cato, I think-" I begin to say, but the huge booming voice of the speakerphone sounds as everyone begins to come inside and take their seats.

"HELLO, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! I'M PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE DOME WILL BEGIN IN ABOUT FIVE MINUTES, BECAUSE OF THE TEMPORARY DELAY FOR THIS YEAR'S COMPETITORS! NOW EVERYONE! ARE YOU READY FOR THE DOME?" The speakerphone announces, and the crowd starts screaming and wildly cheering.

I realize that Cato didn't hear me, and was too busy cheering alongside Ebon and Boggs.

Letting out a sigh, I stare towards the huge TV's that stood above the arena. They were showing the past replays of the Dome, and some of them were gruesome and bloody fights that seemingly lasted forever. I wince and look away.

Suddenly, several guards appear into the arena, ans they're escorting a huge, tanned, muscled man. He seemed to be near his mid 30s, and stood well over six feet tall. He was almost like a building. I silently gasp.

He takes his cloak off and throws it aside, before raising his hands in the air and shouting in a foreign language. It was presumably Russian.

The crowd went wild, some of the audience stood up and threw their fists in the air. Already, some people began placing bets among the crowd. It was sickening. They were really going to place money on who would win?

Right away I figured that he was among the top elites. Maybe even the highest. He had a tattoo of a symbol of District 13 on his arm, which consisted of the nuclear sign.

"IT LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE A CONTESTANT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! NOW DO WE HAVE A SECOND? ANYONE, ANYONE?" The speakerphone announced. I glance up and see two men sitting next to each other through a glass window above the arena with a speakerphone in their hands.

"Who will face me?" The guy inside the arena laughed, using a Russian accent. "Anybody? Come on, you pussies!" He shouted. Then he looked straight at me and Cato, which made me freeze up.

He narrowed his eyes at the both of us, before pointing straight at Cato. "What about you, District 2? You two's are known as the bad, dangerous careers in the arena, after all," He mocked.

I feel Cato clench his fists in anger beside me. "Ignore him, Cato. Just don't." I beg.

"Come on, 2!" I hear several of the elites, who were in the upper corner of the bleachers. "Yeah, Cato! Come on!" They chant. I instantly feel like shooting an arrow at them to make them shut up.

Now Ebon is reacting. "No, Cato..." He warns.

Cato turns to stare at Ebon. "What was the reward again, for the winner?" He asks. My eyes widen. Was he really thinking to fight?

"Freedom and luxury," Ebon narrows his eyes.

"Freedom-freedom...that counts for us too, right? If I win, me and Katniss get to go back to our Districts?" Cato seems determined. My heart nearly breaks.

Ebon nodded. "President Coin would figure you'd try to enter the Dome. So yeah the reward counts for you two as well. If you win, Cato, you two get to go home. But don't. Please, it's too risky. Don't. It's a trap that Coin set up."

"Cato, please. Don't...please, for me..." I begin to panic, as I hold onto his arm, trying to get him to face me. Damn Coin. I knew she had something planned up her sleeve. That's why she sat up the Dome early. She purposely sent in a contestant to challenge Cato out into the arena.

"I'm waiting, career. Or are you too scared?" The Russian guy sneers.

Cato shushes me, and then glares over at the contestant inside the arena. "Fuck you. I'll beat you into a bloody pulp," He murderously growls, standing up to glance up at the announcers. "I'm in."

I nearly stop breathing.

I hear Ebon give a loud curse next to me.

"ALRIGHT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! IT SEEMS WE HAVE OUR SECOND CONTESTANT! LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!" The speakerphone booms, and the crowd is sent cheering like crazy. Some others are placing bets on Cato.

I couldn't think of anything else to do except scream. "No!" I stand up and scream at him, which makes the audience go silent."You idiot! It's a trap! Can't you understand? Don't you dare risk your life for my freedom, don't you-" I'm interrupted by his lips crashing down against mine as he holds me against his chest.

I kiss him back, but pull away as I shake my head. "Don't do this. Don't, please" I whisper, holding him as tight as I could.

He tilts my head up to look at him. "Shh, it's gonna be alright. I'm gonna win this thing. I have to. I need to get both of us home, don't you get it?" He softly strokes my hair.

"Not like this, Cato. There's another way, I know it...we can-" Cato puts his finger against my lips to interrupt me once again.

"Don't be stupid, Katniss. No there isn't. There never was, this is the only way." He explains, and I painfully stare at his eyes.

"Don't you dare die, do you hear me? Don't you dare." I place my arms around his neck and bury my face into his shoulder.

"I won't, I promise." He kisses me on my forehead, but I couldn't tell if that was a real promise or not.

Cato pulls away from me and walks past me, down the stairs, and into his fate inside that cursed arena. Even worse, we were sitting down in the front row so I could see everything. Now I deeply regret listening to him and going into this stupid Dome. I walk towards the railing that separated the audience from the arena, and leaned against it as I helplessly watch him face his opponent. I hear someone get up from one of the chairs behind me. At first I think it's Mason, but instead it's Ebon. He sighs and pulls me into a hug, but my body is trembling too much to even hug him back. I can't even cry or speak, I'm too shaken up.

I feel like I'm about to fall apart.

* * *

><p><strong>Cato's POV<strong>

I glare at my Russian opponent, who is standing there with an arrogant smirk on his face. Despite my muscled body, he stands a few feet above me, and his chest and arms seem more wider. In the Games, I was one of the biggest tributes, but that was between 12 year olds and 18 year olds. This guy is well as twice my age, being in his mid 30s.

Tsk, whatever. It doesn't matter, anyway. I can still beat him.

Before we choose our weapons that we're going to fight with, I stare up at Katniss who's being comforted by Ebon. She seems distressed, and when she stares at me, it's like she's in pain. I hate seeing her like this. I really do, but I have to win this for her. She had to understand it was good for the both of us.

I choose a sword from the weapon rack right away, since I was best with swords. I stare at my opponent and watch as he picks up an axe, a huge one for chopping down trees.

As soon as we both choose our weapons, we both stand to face each other in the center of the arena, while the guards take the exit with the weapon rack in their hands.

"ALRIGHT, EVERYONE! THE MATCH WILL BEGIN IN 10 SECONDS! LETS BEGIN THE COUNTDOWN, SHALL WE?" I hear the speakerphone say.

"10!"

"Your pretty little girlfriend is going to be mourning your death quickly," My opponent mocks in his deadly Russian accent.

"9!"

I sneer at him. "Don't get too overconfident, you son of a bitch."

"8!"

"I'll enjoy soaking this arena with your blood," He darkly chuckles.

"7!"

"Same goes for me," I narrow my eyes.

"6!"

"Please, you won't even be able to lay a finger on me." He replies.

"5!"

"Oh yeah? I'll wipe that cocky grin of your face with my sword." I give him one of my sadistic smirks.

"4!"

"Not before I wipe yours off," He twirls his axe around.

"3!"

"Take your best shot." My grip on my sword handle tightens.

"2!"

"You filthy career." He clenches his teeth in anger.

"1!"

"You fucking elite." I get ready to attack.

"0!"

He brings his axe back, before crashing it down towards me. I instantly roll aside onto the floor and avoid it, watching as the axe hit the ground and caused a slight tremor in the arena. Sword in hand, I get up and swing the sword against his side. However, he quickly blocks it with his axe.

I curse and bring my sword back to strike it over his head. He brings his hands up and blocks the attack with his axe again, before taking another swing at me. I block it with my sword, this time causing the axe to slip out of his hand and go flying someplace else. I let out a murderous grin, before taking my sword and hitting him again.

This time, he blocks the sword with his hand, taking it in his grip. When the sword sliced through his hands, he winced, which gave me an opportunity. I pushed him and the sword away, before punching him square in the face.

He doesn't fall, but he staggers quite a bit before holding his bleeding nose. He then glares daggers at me, before we're both sent punching at each other, trying to avoid each others punches. Suddenly, I'm caught off guard, and I'm sent falling onto the ground by one of his punches knocking me down.

"Shit," I breathe, and avoid one of his kicks as I try to get up. I crawl onto my side and force myself up as he tries to punch me again. However, he grabs my shirt and to my surprise, lifts me up into the air, over his shoulder.

Anyone had trouble lifting me. And yet, he was able to walk a few steps in front of him. I wildly curse and struggle to get out of his grip as I realize what he was going to do.

I hear the crowd cheering and whooping behind us. They know what's about to happen as well.

With a loud grunt and yell, he lifts me higher up in the air, before bending down and slamming my body against the ground as hard as he could.

I cry out as I land onto the clay floor of the arena, hard. It wasn't as hard as concrete, thankfully. If it was concrete, I would've been dead. I moan and mutter a curse under my breath. I try to close and open my eyes to try to get rid of the fuzziness that was surrounding my vision. I force myself up. However, I limp a few times before completely standing up to face him. I must've dislocated my ankle from the force that he had put to slam me against the ground.

I pant and try to search for one of our weapons.

* * *

><p><strong>Katniss POV<strong>

My heart almost stopped when I heard the crowd chanting and Cato was forcefully slammed onto the ground. I had closed my eyes for a few seconds, before opening them up again. I felt relief as soon as I watched Cato get up. However, I could tell he was hurt by the way he limped off the ground.

"I can't take this," I murmur to Ebon, biting my lip.

He breathes an uneasy sigh. "I know,"

Both me and Ebon are standing next to the railing as the Russian opponent charges himself at Cato once again. This time, Cato quickly dodges and makes sure he doesn't get caught in his grip again. He finds his sword and swings at at his opponent, slashing at his side.

This time, I cheer.

"Come on, Cato. You can do it.." I press.

His opponent cries out in pain, but tries to avoid every single time Cato hits him with his sword. He slashes him across the arms a couple of times, but then Cato's opponent sends a fist flying towards him, and manages to punch him in the face.

Cato looses his grip on his sword and falls onto the ground. The opponent turns the other way to get to the sword, but Cato trips him with his feet. The two are sent rolling onto the ground and punching each other. Cato punches him in the stomach and tries to kick him off. However, the opponent grabs some dirt off of the floor and throws it into Cato's eye.

I curse at the opponent as I hear Cato cry out and furiously wipe at his eyes.

The opponent turns the other way and grabs a hold of the sword.

"Cato, watch out!" I scream at him, which seems to catch his attention. Cato notices his opponent rushing at him and quickly stands up to block a few attacks from the sword.

It goes on for several minutes. Cato keeps blocking the Russian's attacks, but I notice that he's panting and his movements are slowing. Until, something happens.

The opponent headbutts his elbow into Cato's stomach, causing him to stop moving. Before Cato has time to react, the sword goes right through his chest.

The whole crowd gasps, including me.

I feel tears stinging at my eyes as I try to realize what just happened. My world is spinning and I stopped breathing.

I can't even manage to speak as Ebon tries to hold me from falling over.

* * *

><p><em>A:N:<em> **Uh, wow that was a major cliffhanger. It nearly made me cry, actually. Anyways, gosh. I know I kind of disappeared off the face of the Earth for the past two months so I'm really sorry for that. I just sort of had a major writer's block. But now it's all good, and I got everything planned out. I hope you guys aren't too mad at me, and enjoy this longish chapter I wrote. Toodles! And review! **


	22. Regretful Rewards

**Katniss POV**

"No!" I let out a bloodcurdling scream, and nearly jump off the railing. But Ebon manages to hold me back just in time.

The whole crowd gasps again, and a few cheers erupt from the audience.

Once I realize what's happening, I stare over at Cato, and see some of his blood drop on the floor. However, the blood wasn't coming from his chest, it was coming from his hands. He had blocked the sword from entering his chest, so it went through his hands instead. The blade of the sword had barely missed his chest by an inch.

I almost cried out in happiness, holding my hand over my mouth to hold in my tears. But fear instantly flooded back into me once I realized that the fight wasn't over yet.

Cato grunted in pain, before pulling the sword out from his hands. His Russian opponent stared at him with awe. "How...? How did you block that attack?" He gaped.

"I'm a career, remember?" Cato managed a laugh, despite his piercing pain through his hands.

At his comment, the whole crowd roared in cheers. I gave a small smile.

Swinging his sword back, Cato slashes at his opponent again, but it was instantly blocked. The Russian knocks it out of his hand and uses Cato's inability to use his hands as an advantage. He punches him in the stomach and kicks him aside. Before his opponent grabs the sword and lunges it down towards him, Cato rolls aside and avoids the sword before running over to grab the axe. As his opponent advances and draws the sword, Cato blocks it with the axe. The clashing sound of the two weapons colliding with one another rings throughout the entire arena, making the crowd sit on the edge of their seats with anticipation.

I'm pulling at my hair as I watch the entire fight, feeling my heart race each time their weapons clash against each other.

* * *

><p><strong>Cato's POV<strong>

I tighten my grip on the axe as it collides with the my opponent's sword. I advance in each step I take to try and overpower him. Each time I swing the axe into the air, a huge explosion of pain enters my wounded hands. I wince, and try to avoid the pain. However, my opponent realizes this, and takes it as an advantage to disarm me.

The axe goes flying out of my hands, but before my opponent has time to swing his sword, I forcefully headbutt him onto the ground, taking him down with me. He loses his grip on the sword as he falls, so instead he punches me in the face, again. I land on the floor next to him, as I cough out blood that was caused by the impact his fist made with my jaw.

I groan and try to crawl away, but he grabs my leg and practically drags me towards him. "Shit, ah..damn!" I curse once I realize that he was going to pick me up and throw me again. No, not this time..

I kick and try and punch him, however he's already holding me up high in the air.

The crowd starts to cheer again, and I silently curse them.

"Die!" He yells like a maniac, and I can tell that he's eager to finish this battle. With a loud grunt, he forces me high up into the air before slamming me hard against the ground, once again.

I cry out, this time not being able to get up from the floor. I cough and forcefully try to push myself forwards, but I can't even manage to crawl. My vision starts to spin.

He glares at me, his dark hair messily in front of his insane dark gaze. He begins to laugh as he tries to catch his breath, enjoying seeing me on the floor. He looks up at the audience and raises his hands, asking for a bit of noise.

I wince and glance up at him, knowing that he's about to do something. The audience starts chanting and whooping, before they start doing a countdown.

What is that fucker trying to do...?

As he approaches me, I go for a desperate attempt to get up from the floor, however he steps on my chest in order to keep me from crawling away. I let out angry pants as I hatefully glare at him, trying to punch and shove his foot off of me as I try and reach for a weapon nearby.

He pulls his foot away as he steps a few feet away from me, and then I realized what he was planning to do. He wanted to completely throw his body against mine, so it would crush my bones.

I curse myself and roll onto my side, trying to crawl away and lift my knees off the ground. As I do, my gaze glances towards the audience. I see Katniss, and she's leaning over the railing, with a desperate look on her face.

"Cato, move...Cato!" She's yelling over and over again.

I'm trying... I want to say, but can't.

Suddenly, my Russian opponent yells and charges right at me. Clenching my teeth, I manage to roll towards the other side before he lands on me, however, I forgot to move my leg out of the way before he landed.

He's twice my size, so he's probably double my weight. When his massive body landed on my leg, it hurt like hell.

I scream in agony, and instantly pull my leg from under his body when he rolls over to the side, groaning in pain as well from the impact his body made with the ground. I hear Katniss's muffled cry from above because of the scream I had made.

My opponent gets up on his knees, and winces as he tries to get up. "You little shit," He growls at me, and lunges towards me, before punching me in the face.

He kneels over me, punching me a second time. Instead of coughing blood out, I spit it right in his face. He cries out and furiously wipes my blood off his face. Before he has time to do anything else, I kick him off me, before getting up and limping towards a weapon.

He screams in anger behind me, and as I'm a few inches away from the sword, he pulls me away and throws me against the ground. I roll away from him and scramble to get up on my feet, but he forces me onto my knees and holds me into a deadly headlock.

I wince as he pulls my head back with his arms, positioning me in front of the audience. My heart races, causing me to heavily pant.

"You put on quite a fight. But you are no match for an elite," He says to me, but loud enough for the audience to hear. He moves my neck to the side and prepares to break my neck. The same move that I used on so many tributes back in the Games.

"No! Don't!" Katniss screams, and I turn to stare at her. She tries to run towards me, but Ebon holds her back, trying to shush her.

I hear my opponent laugh from behind me. "Don't worry, beautiful. You'll get your turn soon enough," He tells her, which makes me clench my teeth in anger.

"Goodbye, 2!" He announces to me, and to the crowd.

"Think again," I sneer, and with extreme force, I grab him from behind and throw him against the ground, baffling the audience. I run towards the sword, trying to ignore the pain in my leg. Clearly confused, my opponent gets up and run towards me, headbutting both him and me to the ground.

We both kick at each other as we both try a desperate attempt to reach the sword. I grab the sword handle and kick him off of me, before standing up and swinging at him. He rolls onto the ground, however, I shove my sword right into his chest before he could even get up.

He lets out a painful groan, and coughs a large amount of blood.

The crowd gasps.

I smirk with victory as narrow my eyes at him. "You shouldn't have underestimated me. Now I'll show you not to fuck with a career." I stab him over and over again with the sword, ignoring his screams and his blood spattering across my face as I enter a frenzied rage.

My cold gaze instantly lights up as I watch him die. He takes his last breath as soon as I pull my sword out of his chest.

It takes a few moments before the audience erupts in cheers. Some people are shouting in disappointment, because they had lost their bet.

I stand up with the sword in hand, watching as the audience cheered my victory. It felt amazing. But then again, I felt like crap. My wounds stung, and my head pounded like crazy. I felt my chest rapidly rising and falling by every second.

"WELL, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WE HAVE OUR WINNER! EVERYONE GIVE IT UP FOR CATO OF DISTRICT 2!" The speakerphone announces.

I barely see paramedics come and drag my opponent's body away as I grin and wave at the audience. I gaze over at Katniss, who's hugging Ebon with excitement. She looks over at me and grins.

I laugh and whooped along with the roaring audience, holding my arms out as I glance back over at Katniss. "I told you!" I happily shout at her.

"I told you!"

* * *

><p><strong>Katniss POV<strong>

Despite the gruesome death of the man, I couldn't be happier. Me and Cato were going home! I couldn't believe it! I was actually happy that Cato killed someone, and it felt weird.

I grin at him, and run down the stairs, into the arena. I didn't even know if that was allowed, but I could care less. In this moment, I was only thinking about freedom. I throw myself at him, and he catches me, twirling me around for a few seconds before putting me back down.

I embrace him and bury my face into his shoulder, nearly wanting to cry. I had watched him almost get killed several times, and I hated every second of it. I hope I never have to go through that again.

"Hey...shh. It's over, now. I won." He tells me, as he gently strokes my back and kisses my forehead.

I pull back from him, so I can softly hit him against his chest. "Don't ever do that to me again," I frown.

He grins at me and pulls me back into his arms. "I won't, alright?"

I nod my head in agreement as I rest my head against his chest.

"Hey, but we won! We get to go home!" He laughs in glee, and I give him a wide smile.

"I know! I'm so happy!" I giggle, and place my arms around his neck. He lifts me off the floor again, and kisses the crook of my neck.

Ebon makes his way towards us from the crowd that was currently either leaving the stadium, or staying to reveive or give money. "How's my victor?" He crosses his arms, and flashes a smile towards Cato.

"I have bruises and cuts all over my body, and my hands hurt like hell.." He shows us his bloody hands that had been pierced by the sword. I give a slight wince. "But I'll live," He shrugs.

"So..we can leave now, right?" I hopefully asked Ebon, in a rush to get home. I really liked some people here in District 13, but I honestly couldn't wait to get back to my District. You know, people to see, things to do. I needed to get back to Prim.

"I'm pretty sure you can. We just need to talk to President Coin first. When you guys leave, it needs to be in secrecy, and you're required to keep District 13 a secret, alright? You can't tell anyone. And I mean it," He explains, causing me and Cato to nod in agreement.

"Got it," I reply. I was good with keeping secrets, anyway. And I didn't feel like having President Coin dragging me back here and murdering me herself if I told anyone. Me and Cato would just have to tell the Capitol that we had found some travelers that lived outside of Panem, and they had helped us.

"Well, we better go see her now." Ebon glances at the both of us, and begins to walk out of the arena.

Cato mutters a curse, obviously upset because we had to go see Coin. I don't blame him. I was not looking forward to go seeing her, either. Cato puts his arm around my shoulder as I help him to walk, since he limps. We both follow Ebon, and regretfully make our way towards the fiery pit of doom called President Coin's office.

* * *

><p><strong>Peeta's POV<strong>

I stand in the center of District 12, glancing as others walk past me and settle themselves around me. They don't even bother to stand in their age sections, since everyone knows that these Games were gonna be the third Quarter Quell. I honestly didn't know why. I mean, I was the only victor, so why is President Snow making such a big hassle? All I do know is that it's either me or Haymitch was going to get picked.

Speaking of Haymitch, he stands beside me and places his hand on my shoulder in order to reassure me. "You know, you don't have to go. I can always volunteer in your place if your name gets called," He explains, which makes me give him a small smile.

"It's alright." I reply, nearly shrugging it off. I didn't care anymore. In the 74th Games, I cried when my name was called, but I don't know why I wasn't worried or nervous for being called now. Actually, I feel no emotion at all. I guess it's because Katniss is dead, and I feel guilty about it.

As Effie makes her way on stage, I turn my attention towards her. Her wig is now a metallic blonde color instead of a white pinkish color it was last time. She gives a happy giggle, and eagerly announces the preparation for the third Quarter Quell. Obviously, she was excited about this year's Games. Instead of bringing the bowl full of tributes names like she usually does, she picks names of the past victors.

"The male tribute for the 75th annual Hunger Games will be..." She looks at me.

I sigh, and close my eyes for a few seconds.

"Peeta Mellark!" She announces.

I begrudingly make my way towards the stage, and stand next to her. I knew there was no way I was gonna win these Games now. I mean, I had no chance against the past victors. For example the careers, like Gloss and Cashmere, and lets not forget the feisty Brutus and Enobaria.

"Good luck, Peeta." Effie whispers into my ear.

I nod and manage a smile, as I wait for her to announce the female tribute. However, confusion instantly spreads across my face. Wasn't Haymitch the only living victor to be in District 12, including me? How would they have a female tribute? That is, if they were going to pick a new one that was never a victor before.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I will not be calling a female tribute because she has already been picked and is on her way to the Capitol to compete in this year's Games," Effie announces, which makes the crowd murmur amongst themselves. I guess I was right.

However, as soon as I stare over at Haymitch, he seems to know something that I don't. He's glancing at Effie, who shares his same look.

Is there something they aren't telling me...?

* * *

><p><strong>Katniss POV<strong>

I follow Ebon into Coin's office, with Cato close behind me. The guards next to the entrance of the room step aside to let us through. I step inside the room and smell the familiar scent of flowers. Glancing at the wall across from me, I stare at the weapon racks and rest my gaze onto the one where the bow and arrow were supposed to be.

I give a sly smirk.

President Coin looks up from her desk and raises her eyebrows at us, particularly at Cato. "So, you survived. As I expected." She leans back against the chair, surprisingly calm.

I narrow my eyes. She was taking this better than I thought...Something wasn't right.

"Yeah, I won. So, we're leaving." Cato tells her.

"Leaving?" She seems confused. However, I see the tiniest smile creep onto her sadistic face.

I almost want to lunge myself at her and throttle her to death. "Yeah, you promised. Anyone who wins the Dome gets freedom, so if you don't mind..we'll happily claim our prize and leave this District. We just came to tell you, you know, in case you decided to freak out." I explain.

Ebon gives me a frustrated sigh, obviously thinking that I should've watched my choice of words, but honestly I could care less.

"Oh, Katniss." She laughs, getting up from her chair. "That's what I admire about you. You have so much guts and courage for someone of your age. You remind me of myself when I was younger,"

"I'm nothing like you," I nearly sneer.

She sends an hateful glare towards me. "Watch your tone, Everdeen."

"Enough," Cato walks in front of me, facing Coin and meeting his gaze with hers. "Stop fucking around, and give me my reward."

Cato's even more disrespectful than me, since his vulgarity can threaten others easily. I merely nod in agreement, and stare at Coin.

"Why should I?" She glares, and she almost reminds me of a young teenager who doesn't want to do what her parents tell her to do. She curls her lip in disgust and makes her way towards me, standing right in front of me and placing her face a few inches away from mine. She's trying to intimidate me, which clearly doesn't work on me. Even if she's stands a few inches taller than me.

"If you touch her, Coin..." Cato warns her, and advances towards us in order to protect me from her. However, Ebon gets in front of him to prevent a disaster from happening. I send Cato a warning glance, which causes him to slightly relax. I know that if he even lays a finger on Coin, there's not a chance in hell she would let us go home.

"Alright, Coin. You promised freedom for whoever contestant wins the Dome no matter what District they may come from. It's the rules. And I highly suggest that you give them their reward to avoid any conflict, and we'll calmly be on our way." Ebon explains.

I remain silent as I stare at Coin, who was currently up in my face. She steps away from me, and goes back to her desk. "Alright, alright. You two can claim your reward. But I highly doubt that you'll want to go back home."

I narrow my eyes at her. "What are you saying?"

Cato scoffs. "Don't be an idiot, why the fuck would we not want to go home?"

She manages a small, weak laugh. I knew she was starting to lose it.

"You know nothing, do you?" She leans against the wall and crosses her arms, watching as the door opened behind us.

Me and Cato turn to see who was coming through the door, and once I saw who it was, I instantly recognized one of the Gamemakers faces, alongside with the Capitol guards.

Confusion instantly spread across my face as I exchanged glances with Cato and turned to President Coin.

"What's going on? Why are the Gamemakers here? Coin?" My eyes widen as she says nothing, and I face my grey orbs back towards the Gamemaker.

"Hello, Katniss. It's an honor to see you again, my name is Plutarch." He smiles at me, and places his hand on my shoulder. I instantly recognize him as one of the Gamemakers that were with Seneca when I had shot the arrow at the pig.

I blink at him, at a loss for words.

"Well, Katniss and Cato. If you weren't already informed, you two will be going back into the Games for the third Quarter Quell." President Coin finally speaks. "President Snow knows about District 13, and he's very unhappy that the both of you survived. Especially you, Katniss."

I can barely speak, and I feel myself losing air. No, no. Why? No, I can't go back into the Games! I can't! I need to go back to my District first!

Since I was clearly too distressed to talk, Cato talks instead. "How long did Snow know about this?" He asks.

"He recently found out," Coin replies.

"And you kept it a secret from us!" Cato furiously growls at her.

"How can we go back into the Games? We already were reaped once-" I begin, but Plutarch cuts me off.

"The third Quarter Quell will be based on the past victors of each District must go back into the Games." He explains.

Oh my god. That must mean either Peeta or Haymitch were picked to go into the 75th Games.

"Why is there even a Quarter Quell! We didn't break any rules!" I helplessly shout at the Gamemaker.

Plutarch sighs, and approaches me. "That may be so, but the both of you still survived. There was only supposed to be one victor, but the instead the three of you survived. Once Snow found out that you two were alive, he was furious. He executed Seneca for not making the arena have a stronger build, since you two easily fell though the ground and easily made your way here. I am now the new Head Gamemaker."

I stare at him, completely bewildered. I didn't know Seneca was killed. Of course, the third quell was probably to remind the tributes that even the strongest cannot escape from the Capitol. Seriously Snow? It's not like we planned to fall from the stupid floor.

"This is bullshit," Cato turns the other way, his eyes wide with anger. I instantly knew he desperately wanted to hit something or topple something over.

"A helicopter is waiting for the both of you so we can make our way back to the Capitol. There, you will both be escorted to your mentors and train for the 75th Games." Plutarch steps aside, and makes a hand gesture towards the door for us to follow.

Not believing what I was hearing, I instantly run to Cato and embrace him.

"Oh, Cato.." I tremble. This can't be happening..This can't be. Now I have to kill him. He's going to train with the career pack and be the same bloodthirsty tribute that he once was.

"Look at me," Instead of using his normally gentle tone, he forces my head up to stare at his. This time, he's dead serious. "Your going to be fine, do you hear me? I'm going to protect you."

"You can't. The careers are going to want to kill me," I shake my head, barely noticing the stares we were getting from both the Gamemakers and the Capitol guards. They probably couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"Fuck the careers," He says, which completely baffles me. He always talked about how great the careers were, and not to mess with them. And now they were nothing to him, now that I was involved.

"Don't say that. Your a career, you have to team up with them. I'll be fine, I promise. I don't need protecting," I softly press my forehead against his. "I'm smart, you know. I'll manage to survive somehow,"

He gently plants a kiss against my lips. "I'll get the careers to take you in as an ally. They'll want you, your great with a bow."

I kiss him back and place my arms around his neck. "Maybe, we'll see." I say, just to reassure him. I know I probably won't though. If Peeta had gotten picked, I had to protect him. I couldn't just leave him and join the careers.

"We need to leave as soon as possible," Plutarch orders.

"Okay," I take a deep sigh, and pull myself away from Cato to hold his hand and move towards the door.

Before leaving, I slowly turn my head to glance at Ebon. "Ebon-"

He crosses his arms. "Don't worry, this isn't goodbye yet. I have to talk with you two anyway, before you leave." He narrows his eyes, and I know it's serious.

I nod at him and continue out the door, where the same old sadistic arena awaited me.

* * *

><p><em>AN: _**Oh my gosh, so much drama in this chapter. But then again, there's drama in almost every chapter of mine. I hope you like it! Katniss and Cato are going back into the Games...D: Review! Oh! And I updated much faster this time! Yay! :D**


	23. Fearful Reunion

**Katniss P.O.V**

I stood near the entrance of District 13, feeling the strong breeze of air from the helicopter hit my face. Me and Cato, along with Ebon, had followed the Gamemakers outside of District 13 and towards the helicopter, where we would soon make our leave to the dreaded arena once again. The roar of the loud engine made it difficult to hear what the Gamemakers were saying to both Cato and I, but I was able to make out some parts of what they were saying.

"The interviews will be starting in a few hours, so by the time we get off, I want you two to hurry off and find your mentors, understand?

Both me and Cato nod.

"Alright, we're all ready to depart." Plutarch murmurs to one of the other Gamemakers, who nods in reply, and makes his way over towards the helicopter to inform the flight captain.

"Before they go, I need to discuss something with them. Would that be alright?" Ebon mentions us not to go forward, as he averts his gaze towards Plutarch.

Plutarch gives off an impatient sigh. "Alright, but make it quick."

I let out a nervous inhale as I follow Ebon and Cato towards one of the open plains, probably away from the noise. I silently gaze over to see Plutarch making his way towards the helicopter behind us.

Ebon pulls us both aside, as soon as he's sure that the noise is a long distance away from us.

"Look," He begins, and I have a dreadful feeling that whatever he was about to say wasn't good news.

My gaze wanders off to stare at Cato's hands, which were bandaged up due to the wounds he'd received by the sword when he fought in the Dome. Me and him both exchange glances, and I can immediately see that he already realizes what Ebon is going to say.

"I know," Cato turns the other way, avoids staring at me.

I blink, confused.

"I figured you knew," Ebon sighed

"What? Know what?" I ask, feeling really out of the loop.

"You two can't be seen with each other. Whether it be in the Capitol, or the arena, you just can't. It will cause to much shock among the Capitol, especially your mentors and the President. Didn't you already see how the Gamemakers reacted when they saw you two practically kissing each other?" He explained.

"But-" I begin, but Cato interrupts.

"He's right, Katniss." He tells me.

I frown and silently stare at the floor, refusing to believe any of this.

"I'm sorry, Katniss. You two have to act like you did in the last Games." Ebon tries to reassure me by placing a hand on my shoulder.

However, I quickly pull away. "You mean we have to hate each other! No, but..I can't! I just can't.." I bite my lip.

"We have to, Katniss. Don't you understand?" Cato nearly spats, his glare turning on my gaze.

I raise my head to look at him, confusion filling my entire face. "You're acting as if I mean nothing to you. You're acting as if you don't mind pretending, but I do!"

"Don't you dare go there," He glares at me, and I don't think I've seen him look any angrier.

"Stop it, both of you." Ebon seethes.

Me and Cato were about to continue to argue, until Plutarch started making his way towards us.

"Forget it. We have to go." Cato sighs, and tries to relieve his anger. He crosses his arms and begins to make his way towards the impatient Plutarch, who seems to be checking his watch every two minutes.

I look away from the both of them and turn to Ebon, who is pulling me into an embrace. I hug him back and manage a smile. "Thanks, for everything." I say, and I mean it. He had to go through a lot by dealing with both me and Cato, and I really appreciated it.

"It was nothing, really." He murmurs back, and we both pull away from the hug.

"I'll see you again, right?" I hopefully ask.

"I think we will," He gives me a reassuring smile. "Take care of yourself, alright?"

I nod, and wave one last goodbye before turning and making my way towards the helicopter, where I was the last one to board. I unwillingly go up the stairs that led to the entrance inside the helicopter. I look at my surroundings and watch as the Gamemakers seat themselves on a luxurious couch and stare up at the mini TV screen. The helicopter was obviously a private luxurious one. Of course, they give us luxury before sending us off to our deaths. I gaze over at Cato, who's sitting on another couch with elbows on his knees and his head against his hands. He seems stressed.

I glance out the window and see Ebon leaving for the entrance of District 13. I frown and silently wish that I were back inside the District. Even if I hated it, it sure beat going back into the Arena again. I sit on the couch that Cato was sitting on, however I seat myself away from him. As I hear the doors of the helicopter close, I lay down and snuggle myself against the arm of the couch. Soon, the helicopter begins to make a noise as it slowly lifts itself off the ground.

I sit up against the couch and hug my knees against my chest as I rest my head on them. I feel miserable, as I silently stare out the windows and watch as we fly farther away from District 13. I hear Cato sigh, and lift his head up.

I don't look at him as I continue to stare out the window and into the white fluffy clouds.

"Katniss.." He says.

Don't talk to me," I reply, my eyes narrowing.

"What did I do!" He nearly jumps off the couch with anger. "Tell me what the fuck I did wrong, Katniss."

I remain calm, despite his sudden outrage at me. "You know what you did."

"That I agreed with Ebon? But he's right," He protests.

"You acted as if you didn't even care. Like you don't mind pretending," I sit up from the couch and begin to walk away, but I'm quickly grabbed by the arm and yanked against the wall. I let out a tiny gasp as I stare into Cato's furious gaze, who's now tightening his grip on his arm.

"Let go of me-" I protest, trying to tug my arm away from him.

"No. What did you just say? That I don't care? Who the fuck are you to tell me that I don't care?" He inches closer to me, so his face is inches away from mine, and I can feel his hot breath against my skin.

"It just seemed like.." I say, trying to find words to continue my sentence. Instead, I just sigh and bite my lip, avoiding my gaze from his.

"Seemed like what?" He narrows his eyes. And when I don't answer, he grows frustrated. "Seemed like what, Katniss?" He shakes my arms.

I frown and turn my head away, still not answering his question.

"I love you. I fucking love you, idiot. Do you think I want to pretend to hate you? It hurts me as much as it hurts you," He lifts my head up to stare at him.

"I. Love. You." He continues. "How many times do I have to say it?"

I try and hide a smile as I press my forehead against his. "Alright, I get it."

"Well?" He pulls me away from the wall and into his arms, as if he's expecting me to say something.

"I love you, too." I rest my head against his shoulder.

He kisses the top of my head, before we both glance over at the Gamemakers. Some had their gazes fixed on the mini TV screen, while others were glancing back at us.

"We should stop," I whisper.

He nods in agreement and pulls away from me. I stare at him with pained eyes, as he makes his way back to the couch. I follow him back on the couch but sit a few distances away from him, hugging a pillow.

I can't do this. This is too much. I mean, pretending I was in love with Peeta wasn't that of a big deal, but pretending I still hate Cato? That's too much. And not to mention that there has to be only one winner this time? I have to kill both Cato and Peeta.

I hold in a a breath of air as I hold onto the pillow even tighter. I press my head against it and begin to breathe in heavy gasps of air. I don't want Cato or Peeta to die..but I can't afford to die, either..I have Prim and my mother to think about. Oh, my god. What am I supposed to do?

"What am I gonna do?" I silently murmur against the pillow, quiet enough for no one to hear. I realize I'm hyperventilating, and I quickly try to calm myself down by breathing in slow and soft breaths of air. However, it doesn't seem to work.

I clench my eyes shut and try to relax. I can manage to keep them both alive, and to keep myself alive as well, right? I mean, I managed it the first time. I just have to think of something.

I have to.

* * *

><p>An hour passed, and I assumed I fell asleep since the helicopter's engine started to slow down as we landed. I blinked my eyes open and watched as the Gamemakers got up from the couch and were ready to make their way outside.<p>

"Alright, tributes! We have arrived at the Capitol." Plutarch announced, and I took this time to glance over at Cato.

He was leaning back against the couch, relaxing, not sleeping. "Finally," He smirked, and cracked his knuckles, before getting up from the couch and making his way towards the entrance of the helicopter.

I gaped at him, remembering that he had to go back to his old self. Which was the mean, arrogant, career. I stared at the floor, realizing that I had to be myself as well. I couldn't show weakness towards anybody. No more of Cato's touches, or his kisses...

The door to the helicopter opened, and a trail of stairs was let down. I watched as each of the Gamemakers walked down. I got up from the couch and began to follow Cato outside of the helicopter. However, before we exited, we shared glances. His gaze showed a slight bit of reassurance, but he made no move to show it. I exited the helicopter before he did, and slowly stepped down the stairs.

Once I got down, the Capitol was just as I remembered it. Huge, with a strange fashion. A huge crowd of people formed around us, but the Gamemakers made a group around me and Cato as they escorted us to the Capitol building. I tried to ignore the crowd of people cheering and asking me tons of questions about how I managed to survive. They were asking Cato the same thing, although some girls were more flirting with him. I felt a slight stab of jealousy.

Once we entered the building, several stylists swarmed over us, separating both me and Cato as they began to drag him off somewhere. I hesitated, about to call his name, but thought against it. However, he turned back to glance at me as he was being escorted towards another room. "It's alright," He mouthed.

I bit my lip as he disappeared into another room. I cringed as several other stylists began to take me away somewhere as well, most likely to prepare me for the interview. I glanced at a nearby window and watched as a crowd of people gathered and shouted both mine and Cato's name. The stylists escorted me around a corner and up the stairs, where I saw fancy decorations and a bunch of TV screens showing the Capiol. They led me towards a door and practically shoved me inside, which put me on edge.

Once I got a good look at my surroundings, I almost leaped with joy as I saw Haymitch,

Cinna, and Effie all shouting with excitement upon my arrival. All of them nearly jumped at me, especially Haymitch, who took me in his embrace and spun me around.

"I missed you guys so much," I mumbled into Haymitch's shoulder, who now had me in a tight hold.

"We missed you too, sweetheart." He gave me another squeeze, before letting me go and grinning at me.

"I don't know how you managed it," Cinna smiled at me, and took me in his embrace as well. I smiled back at him, as he gave me a friendly kiss on the forehead.

"I really don't know either." I murmured, as he let me go in order for Effie to hug me.

"We all thought you were dead!" She exclaimed, before giving me a quick hug. I softly inhaled her strong pomegranate scent.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. We would've came for you earlier, but we just recently found out you were alive. I hear that career came with you too. It must've been horrible dealing with both him and District 13 for those seven months. Believe me, I have to deal with Brutus on a daily basis." Haymitch joked.

Cinna gave a small chuckle.

"But I'm sure you two kept your distance," Effie remarked.

My smile dropped as they mentioned Cato. I already missed him. "Oh, yeah." I managed a pretend smirk. "Nah, we didn't talk to each other at all. Even though I helped him when we got stuck inside a cave, he didn't return the favor. Damn careers, right?" I lied, and I'll admit, it was a good lie. I was fairly good at lying, however, my heart ached each time I said a word about him.

Haymitch scoffed as he drank a bottle of ale. "I'll give you that,"

"Where's Peeta..?" I suddenly asked, trying to avoid the subject. But really, I was dying to see him. I gazed around the room, but saw no sight of him.

"He's getting ready in another room with Portia," Effie replied, as Cinna began to lead me out the room.

"Which reminds me, we have to get you ready as well." Cinna put his hand on my shoulder as we both left Effie and Haymitch inside the room. We both waved at them, and closed the door behind us.

Cinna and some other stylists led me around the corner and down the hallway. In the meantime, Cinna began explaining helpful advices and ideas that he had for my dress. However, I didn't even pay attention to him. I felt like my feet were walking, but my body was screaming for me to stop.

I was dreading to go into the interviews even more now then ever.

* * *

><p><em>AN:_ **Sorry this ****chapter was short, but I didn't want to take too long to update. I promise the next chapter will be longer and filled with a bunch of drama, since you'll be seeing a lot of Peeta :D Also, I was kind of wondering whether to have Katniss get pregnant before the Games or after the Games? What do you guys think? Anyways, thanks for voting on my poll guys! I see that most of you voted for a Hunger Games SYOT, so that is what I'll be currently working on. Expect to see one soon! Review!**


	24. The Interviews

**Cato's POV**

I wince, and watch as the other stylists bandages my bloody hands from the sword wound I had got from the Dome.

Brutus paces around the room, before stopping to stare at me with his menacing eyes. "Talk trash, alright? That's what the audience wants, so I want you to insult the underdogs as much as possible enough to make them piss in their pants when you go against them in the arena. Degrade them, especially that girl from District 12," He explains.

As the stylists stop bandaging my hands, I stay silent.

I don't want to insult Katniss, I already have to pretend I hate her.

Damn..

"Cato, do you hear me?" Brutus narrows his eyes.

"He knows what to do, Brutus." Enobaria speaks up from the corner of the room, where the other stylists are doing her makeup in preparation for the interviews.

I was a little bit pissed when I found out that she was going into the arena with me. Now I'm going to have to watch what I do in the arena, since she'll probably have her eyes on me 24/7.

Brutus gives a frustrated sigh before backing away from me. I know I'm one of his favorite tributes that he trained, so he expects a lot from me. He expects me to be brutal and bloodthirsty, like him.

"I get it," I give him a murderous smirk. "I'll talk shit about how pathetic their lives are. They probably couldn't even afford to come up with an insult half as good as mine,"

"That's my boy," Brutus grins, and comes forward to place me in a headlock and give me a playful noogie.

I smirk against him, before trying to wrestle him back.

"Brutus, don't mess up his hair. The interviews start in a few minutes," Enobaria rolls her eyes.

Brutus finally lets me go as I push him back.

"God damn, have you gotten strong." Brutus rolls his shoulders. "How big was that guy you killed back in that Dome arena?"

"Bigger than you," I playfully sneer. But honestly, the Russian guy was about as big as Brutus. Goes to show why I had a rough time killing that asshole.

"Oh, now I know your over-exaggerating. Hardly nobody is as big as me, boy." Brutus lets out a gruff, low chuckle.

Once the stylists finish with Enobaria, she gets up from the chair. "Cato, lets go. The interviews are starting," She tells me, before some of the stylists lead her out the door.

I follow her out, with Brutus close behind us.

* * *

><p><strong>Katniss's POV<strong>

I silently watch as Cinna finishes putting makeup on my face. The dress they had on me was a sincere white dress, with a mocking jay pin on my chest. It was to symbolize that I had escaped from the Capitol's doom. I would always fly free somehow.

I thought twice about that. I didn't know why everyone was saying I escaped. I didn't escape. The Arena was badly built, so I fell through it by accident. I don't know why President Snow was so furious with me.

The last thing I needed right now was the Capitol angry at me for rebelling. I thought twice about not having the mocking jay pin, but Cinna, Effie, and Haymitch seemed so determined to have this pin on me that I couldn't refuse. And, I kind of wanted to rub it in President Snow's face.

My gaze averts towards the TV in the corner of the room, where the interviews were starting. Of course, Caesar's smile was still unusually bright as always, as well as his bright and upbeat personality. It made me slightly shudder.

The first two were District 1 tributes. Gloss and Cashmere. They seemed deadly and upbeat while they talked. They both resembled each other as well. They're probably siblings. I thought twice about naming them the "Sinister Twins".

Up next, were the District 2 tributes. First came Enobaria. She seemed sadistic and deadly as well. Her teeth were all pointy and razor-like. She also seemed confident, since she bragged about how she was going to kill off all the underdog tributes. Including me.

Enobaria went off stage, as the audience clapped for her. Next up, was Cato. My heart nearly stopped. He looked more gorgeous than he ever did, and his smirk nearly made my heart melt. Obviously it made the crowd melt, too, since a bunch of girls started screaming and saying his name.

I scoff with annoyance.

When my makeup was done, Cinna and the other stylists turn their attention towards the TV. I silently watch, as well.

"Hello, Cato. You seem rather deadly as usual," Caesar greeted, as Cato sat himself on the chair next to him.

"Caesar," Cato gave off a menacing smirk.

"So, Cato, tell us. What was it like being trapped in the infamous District 13 with our Girl on Fire?" Caesar asked.

I brace myself.

"I hardly talked to her. At first, it took some of the guards in District 13 to hold me back from ripping her head off. They had to put us in separate buildings," Cato explains.

I wince. He made it seem so real..

Caesar slightly chuckled. "Oh yes, I'm sure."

"What is it with career Districts and the other poor Districts? I'll never understand," Caesar casually says, making the audience chuckle in response.

"Because we're better than them. They're just rats who live in filth." Cato replies.

I silently gasp and stare at the TV.

He didn't have to go that far. He took pretending to the extreme. I clench my fists in anger.

Without thinking, I sit up from the chair and grab an empty can of coke that was sitting on the table, and hurl it towards the TV.

The stylists stare at me in surprise, and Cinna softly puts a hand on my shoulder to reassure me.

"It's alright, Katniss. Don't let him get to you," He glares at the TV.

I pant with anger. "I just…hate him! So much!" I rant, not believing what I was saying.

"I know, we all do." Cinna replies, which earns him a few giggles and smiles from the other stylists.

As we continue to stare at the TV, I watch as Caesar tells Cato that he's glad for him to have come back, and that the Games will be more exciting than ever before. Cato leaves the stage, and the audience roars with cheers.

I watch as the other Districts go up. What catches my attention is the District 4 male. He's gorgeous, but he seems way to flirty since he waves at the screaming girls every so often. The other Districts go up, and soon, I see Peeta up on stage.

I know that's my cue to go up.

The stylists rush me out of the room and towards the interviews where Peeta's is taking place.

I impatiently wait on the other side of the stage, when some of the curtains are hiding me. I nearly want to run and hug him, but I know I can't. Peeta knows I'm alive by now, I can see it all over his face. It was Haymitch's idea to have us reunite during his interview.

"Peeta," Caesar drawls. "It's so good to see you again,"

"You too, Caesar." Peeta smiles at him.

"How do you feel about going back into the Games? Nervous?" Caesar asks.

I have to keep myself from rolling my eyes. Of course we're all nervous. We're being sent to our deaths, and everyone acts as if that's normal.

"Uh, well, I was kind of shocked to hear that I was going back.." Peeta frowns. "But, I guess I have to suck it up and try and win again."

"Good, good." Caesar nods his head in agreement.

"Now on to the hot topic that's been spreading around the Capitol. Everyone was so shocked and excited to hear that Katniss was alive. How do you feel now that she's not dead?" Caesar asks Peeta.

I feel my heart skip a beat.

"More than words can describe. I was so happy. I love her to death. You don't know how depressed I was when I thought she was dead," Peeta explains.

I nearly want to cry. I feel horrible. Peeta has so many strong feelings for me, but I can't return them.

I love another person that he probably hates.

"Well, would you like to see her? She's backstage right now as we speak," Caesar smiles, and the whole audience roars in cheers.

I see Peeta's face brighten, which makes my heart slightly melt.

"Yeah, of course!" He replies.

"Come on out, Katniss." Caesar calls out to me, and I step out from the curtains to enter the stage.

I see Peeta's eyes widen, and the crowd bursting in whoops and cheers.

"Oh, Katniss.." He breathes, and I run to him.

He holds me for the longest time before spinning me around in the air. I almost cry tears of joy as I press my face against his shoulder.

"I missed you so much." He kisses my cheek and embraces me back. I feel tears coming down his cheek.

I press my forehead against his as he showers my face with kisses. "I missed you too, Peeta." I whisper.

Caesar makes an "aww" sound, as well as the audience. Some are even crying.

I place my arms around his neck as I bury my face into his shoulder. It feels so odd to have another person kiss me, and hold me like that other than Cato.

He plants a kiss on my lips, before holding me tighter. "I never want to let you go…" He whispers in my ear and strokes my back.

What seems like forever, we finally let go of each other and make our way towards Caesar.

Peeta takes his hand in mine. At first I feel tense, but then I hold his hand back.

"I'm so glad to see the star crossed lovers reunited again," Caesar grins at the both of us as we take our seats on the chair. I decide to snuggle against Peeta, as he strokes my hand.

"Katniss that is such a pretty dress, will you show it to us?" Caesar asks me.

Oh, great..

I just hope he doesn't notice the mocking jay pin.

I let go of Peeta's hand, before getting up and twirling my white dress.

"Very beautiful," Caesar compliments. I see Peeta staring at me, like he's completely mesmerized.

I sit back down on the chair against Peeta, until Caesar speaks up.

"Wait a minute, is that a mocking jay pin?" He asks.

I almost frown.

"Uh, yes." I reply.

"What does it represent?"

"Well, it represent my District. And freedom," I try and say with confidence.

"Freedom.." Caesar thinks for a moment, before I see realization hit his eyes. "Ah, I see."

The audience seems to get it as well, since murmurs and whispers are going among the crowd. I can almost picture President Snow in his office somewhere, watching the interviews and throwing a tantrum.

"Well everyone, it's time to bring our interviews into a closing. Can we get an applause for the star crossed lovers once again?" Caesar smiles at the crowd.

Instead of a mere applause, they give us a roar of cheers.

Both me and Peeta exit off the stage, as Caesar gives his closing.

As we get backstage with the rest of the other tributes and their mentors, Peeta holds me in his arms once again and kisses the crook of my neck. I let my eyes flutter for a moment before I give a content sigh and press my face against his.

His kisses are soft and sweet, they make me relax.

"I'm so glad you're alive," He breathes.

"Me too," I smile at him.

We stop holding each other when we see Haymitch heading towards us.

"Oh, please. Don't let me stop you from cuddling each other, go on ahead." He teases.

Peeta chuckles and kisses my cheek once more. By this point, I don't kiss him back. I'm tired of pretending.

"How is Gale, and my mother and Prim?" I ask Peeta.

"They're fine. They're missing you, a lot. But I think at this point they know you're alive," Peeta replies.

I nod, as Effie comes over and smiles at the both of us. "Well, come on. Lets get you two back to your rooms."

Peeta nods, and takes my hand, leading us to the rooms.

I follow Haymitch, Effie, and Peeta, as I stare at all the tributes. The careers are staring at me, some are giving me nasty looks. I see the District 4 guy smile and wink at me, which brings me on edge.

The only career that really catches my eye is Cato. He's staring at me, or rather glaring. His eyes are fixed on Peeta's hand holding mine. He looks as if he wants to kill him. He finishes giving us a nasty look, before turning over and talking to Enobaria, Cashmere, and Gloss.

My heart nearly dies.

However, I try to hide my sadness by ignoring him. I have to remember to avoid him. I can't show anyone I have feelings for him.

I keep following them up the stairs, towards the District 12 suites.

They open the door as both me and Peeta follow them inside. The room looks exactly like it did last time, no renovations. The rooms are complete luxury as always. I sit on the table where dinner as all ready for us. Peeta sits next to me as Effie sits across from us, followed by Cinna and Portia when they walked inside the room. Haymitch instantly made his way towards the alcoholic beverages, as usual.

Effie and Cinna were talking amongst each other, including to me and Peeta. I think they were talking about arena strategies. Peeta seemed to be listening, but I was lost in my thoughts somewhere else.

"Katniss, is something wrong?" Cinna asks me, which makes Effie and Peeta stare at me.

I should've knew Cinna would know something was on my mind. He was the only person who knew that I was unhappy about something even if I had a huge smile on my face, as well as Gale.

"No, everything's fine." I lied.

He was about to say something else, until Haymitch gave off a frustrated grunt.

We all turn our attention towards him.

"There's no ice, I'll have to go and get some," Haymitch sighs.

"No, it's alright. I'll go," I say, which surprises everyone in the room. I hardly ever did favors for anyone.

"Are you sure?" Haymitch raises an eyebrow.

I nod and leave the table, before leaving the room. I knew they were probably talking about my odd behavior, but I didn't care. I just offered to get ice in hopes of running into Cato. I didn't really know if I could talk to him, since he would probably be with the careers.

I really hate this. I hate not being able to talk to him because of what people thought.

I go downstairs, and try to look for the ice machine. I gaze around and see some of the tributes talking to each other, including some of the Gamemakers. I spot Cato, but he doesn't see me. He's still talking with the careers. But, his mentors look like they're leaving.

I bite my lip, and watch as his glances my way. He stares at me for a few seconds, before turning back to the careers who were leaving to go back to the rooms with their mentors. He went over and told something to Brutus real quick, the brutal huge man that mentored District 2.

I guessed that he told him he was going to get something from somewhere, I had no idea.

Trying not to make eye contact with anyone, I make my way towards the ice machine. I grab a clean bucket from the table next to the machine. I press the button and allow ice to fall into the bucket. As soon as I think I've got enough, I turn to head back the other way.

However, a muscular body bumps into mine.

I look up and see Cato.

My heart leaps, and I silently curse myself for feeling so happy. Despite my efforts in trying to see him, I'm angry with him for calling me filth in the interviews.

He stands over me, and glances the other way before looking back at me. "Go inside that room," He whispers.

I glance over my shoulder to see a room behind us. Most likely the janitor's room.

I nod, and pick up the bucket of ice before entering the room.

As I enter, I'm instantly surprised. Even the janitor's room is luxury. It's a wide room, wide enough to be a classroom. It had a bunch of supplies and a table in the middle.

Cato enters after me and locks the door, as I set the bucket down on the table.

He grabs me, and when I think he's going to hold me and kiss me, he doesn't. He pushes me against the wall, causing me to gasp.

"What was that shit, huh?" He growls into my ear. "Why were you holding hands with Lover boy?"

He was mad.

"I don't have a choice, Cato. I had to!" I yell at him.

"Bullshit," He hisses.

That finally sends me over the edge. I pull my hand back to slap him across the face.

He stares at me, completely baffled. But then he narrows his eyes at me.

"I'm tired of you, I'm tired of your bullshit, Cato! You act as if I'm the only one that does anything wrong! When you completely degrade me and call me filth on live TV! I deserve better than you. I don't even know why I love you!" I argue, letting everything out of my system.

"You seriously mean that..?" Cato asks, more quietly this time. I know I've hurt him. I feel horrible, I feel like kissing and holding him again. But, I'm just so mad that I don't.

"Get away from me," I push him away.

"I'm done with you then," He glares at me, and begins to walk out of the room. I feel like calling him, and telling him to come back, but I don't.

I feel my lip start to quiver as he leaves the room and slams the door behind him.

I can't do this anymore…

I push my sad thoughts away as I pick up the bucket of ice and leave the room, heading back to the District 12 suite. My thoughts start to go wild as I head up the stairs. I start to think about Peeta, Gale, my mom, Prim, Cato..

I never thought I could think of so many people at the same time.

Before I enter the room, I try to hold my head high and look happy. But in reality, I was dying inside.

* * *

><p><em>AN: _**Sorry for taking so long, once again. But I was able to update because of the three day weekend I got :) I hope you guys like this chapter, since Peeta and Katniss finally reunite! This chapter's really depressing :( But then again, most of my chapters are. Enjoy, guys! Review!**


	25. Beautiful Mine

**Katniss's POV**

I woke up on my bed, panting and covered in sweat. I had just woken up from a nightmare, as usual. The nightmare about all the people I couldn't save, and the Games coming up in about a week.

I tried to calm myself down by breathing in normal gasps of air. It still felt odd to wake up in a different bed then the bed in my apartment I had left behind in District 13. Everything felt out of place. It felt odd to not have woken up beside Cato, and having him hold me because I had a nightmare.

I rolled over against the bed and pulled a pillow close to my body.

"Katniss..?" I heard a voice speak, sounding familiar.

My heart leaps as I turn over and look at the person who called my name.

However, my heart slightly drops when I realize it's just Peeta.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" I blink at him, realizing my gasps and pants probably woke him up from the room he was sleeping in next to mine.

"No, I was already awake. I heard you gasping," Peeta replies, as he makes his way towards my bed. "Are you okay?"

I nod my head and rest my chin on top of the pillow. "I'm fine. Just a nightmare.."

"You want to talk about it?" He sits on the bed next to me, and rubs my back.

I bite my lip and shake my head. "No, it's fine."

"Okay," He stops stroking my back and moves to sit over on the edge of the bed. For a second or two, I think he's leaving.

"Don't leave," I whisper, and he manages to catch it.

I can't believe what I'm saying, but I hate being alone when I just had a nightmare.

"I won't," He takes his hand and mine and softly strokes it.

I give a silent sigh as he holds me close to him and gets under the covers next to me. I sniffle and press my head against his chest, before softly fluttering my eyes close. He strokes my hair and stays silent.

I silently wish that Cato was here holding me, instead of Peeta. I can't believe I told him to go away last night, I wish I wouldn't have.

However, I was still content in Peeta's arms. I slowly started to fall asleep again as he continued to stroke my hair.

* * *

><p><strong>Cato's POV<strong>

I grasped the sword in my grip as I swung back and slashed all of the training dummies around me with powerful might. I sneered in anger as I stabbed them multiple times with my sword, and watched as all of their heads fell off.

I panted with rage as I thought about what happened with Katniss last night. Obviously, I was taking out all my anger on the training dummies.

Gloss, Cashmere, and Enobaria seemed to notice as they stare at me, completely awe-struck.

Enobaria grabs a knife and hurls at one of the dummies, sending the knife straight through it. She reminded me of Clove a bit, since their talents with knives and aggressive personality matched.

"Cato, ease up on the sword. Pretty soon we won't have any more dummies left to train with," Enobaria teases.

I hear Gloss and Cashmere slightly chuckle behind me.

I stab one more dummy with my sword as I kick it off the metal pole. The dummies around me were all massacred, as if a large dog had chewed them up.

"Fine," I growl, not finding her statement very funny.

"Why so pissed?" She asks me, before hurling another knife at a dummy.

"I'm not pissed, am I pissed?" I reply, before asking Gloss and Cashmere, who shake their heads and slightly step back from me.

Enobaria rolls her eyes. "Anyone with eyes can see that you're clearly pissed, Cato."

I toss aside the sword back on the weapon rack before searching for more things to train with. "I'm just hyped up for the Games, that's all." I shrug, and clench my fists.

"Whatever you say," Enobaria hurls two knives at several dummies, incapacitating all of them at once. "Just make sure your anger doesn't get in the way when you're in the Arena,"

I grab a spear from the weapon rack. "Yeah, I know."

I glanced up when I heard several more tributes start to come in the Training Room. I glared as soon as I saw Katniss and Lover Boy come in, followed by their drunken mentor.

My teeth clench in anger when I saw Lover Boy holding hands with Katniss again. My fists clench tightly against my sides.

If he touches her one more time…I was going to personally gut him with my sword.

Katniss makes eye contact with me, but only for a few mere seconds before looking away. I glare back at her, making it clear that I was angry with her.

I look away and walk back to the dummies, spear in hand.

"Those stupid lovebirds from 12 make me sick," Gloss sneers, making Enobaria and Cashmere nod in agreement.

"Fuck them," I growl, decapitating another dummy.

"Don't worry, we'll make sure to make their deaths slow and painful in the arena," Enobaria smirks.

Gloss gives a menacing chuckle, while staring at his sister, Cashmere. She also crosses her arms and agrees.

I narrow my eyes and gaze at the floor.

Damn…

What was I going to do?

I didn't mind killing and brutally torturing Lover Boy, but I needed to protect Katniss. I had no idea why. I ended it with her, why did I need to protect her? Why do I still love her so much..?

Enobaria, Gloss, and Cashmere stare at me, like they're waiting for me to respond and agree with them.

I scoff with annoyance.

"Slow and painful.." I say, hurling my spear at another dummy and watching as it split in two and landed on the floor.

Me and the careers share the same sadistic grin.

* * *

><p><strong>Katniss's POV<strong>

I enter the training room with Peeta and Haymitch, and try not to stare as I can see Cato and the other careers glaring at us. Cato's glares of hatred made me even more mad at him. I slightly shuddered when I saw all those decapitated dummies that he must've stabbed with his sword.

I walk over to the weapon rack and grab a bow, as well as a few arrows. Haymitch steps close to me and puts his hand on my shoulder.

"Let's see how well you can still shoot, sweetheart," He says.

He probably thinks I'm a little rusty since I stayed in District 13 for those many months.

I inhale and focus my aim on hitting the bullseye. As I relax my shoulders, I send one of my arrows flying straight at the bullseye.

"Nice," Peeta grins, as Haymitch claps.

"Well done, sweetheart." He turns to Peeta. "Now you, Peeta."

Peeta walks over to the weight rack to grab one of the heavier weights to try and hurl it at one of the training boards.

Haymitch watches, but I focus my attention on the careers, who were each sparring with each other.

Cato was sparring with his mentor, Brutus. They were both clashing swords and wrestling each other. Brutus seems deadly strong, and I'm secretly glad that he's not one of the tributes for the Games. Cato's about as strong as him, since he's fighting back well and dodging his attacks.

I blink and turn away, cursing at myself for staring at him. I turn back in time to watch Peeta hurl the weight at the board, sending it toppling over.

"Good job, Peeta." I manage a small smile.

"Thanks," He gasps, as Haymitch pats his shoulder.

Haymitch begins to tell us on what other things we can train with, and I'm glad that our mentors were allowed to train with us. It gives me more confidence and tips.

An hour passes, as Peeta hurls more weights at boards and I send multiple arrows flying at targets.

"Since when can you shoot multiple arrows, Katniss?" Haymitch asks me, baffled.

I shrug. "I sort of learned how to when I was training in District 13." I send more arrows flying.

"You're amazing. Just wait, once you get back to District 12, you'll be hunting five squirrels at once." Peeta explains.

I suddenly feel sadness.

Sadness for my life back in District 12, that I might not even return to. I'm pretty sure President Snow is making it clear that he only wants once victor crowned. So, either I die, or Peeta, or Cato..

I swallow, to try and hide my sadness.

"I need water, I'll be right back." I say, causing Peeta and Haymitch to stare at me.

"Sure, sweetheart." Haymitch replies. But I think he realizes that my behavior is rather off.

I leave them as I walk down the training room and down to the hallway with rooms. The refreshments room is right nearby, for the tributes to reach easily.

I walk inside and see nobody inside.

As soon as I close the door behind me, I walk over to the table and try to pick out which refreshment I want. They had water, Gatorade, Fruit Punch, this weird energy drink.

Deciding to go with water, I grab a cup and pour the huge tank of water into it. When I finish drinking the water, I hear the door open behind me.

I place the cup down and turn around, expecting to see a random tribute.

However, my heart flutters with joy when I see Cato enter.

He closes the door and avoids my gaze, still probably mad at me. I silently move out of the way and watch as he pours himself a cup of Gatorade.

"Cato.." I barely whisper.

"What do you want?" He sneers, once he finishes drinking his Gatorade.

I cross my arms and step back, looking the other way. "Nothing," I narrow my eyes.

I turn to leave, but I give a silent gasp of surprise when he softly puts his arm around me to keep me from leaving.

He pushes me against the wall beside the other side of the door. It seems to be his infamous way of trapping me. Holding me against a wall so I can't get out.

I bite my lip, having nothing to say.

"Why..? Why do you do this to me?" He narrows his eyes.

"Do what, Cato?" I reply.

"Don't play stupid, Fire girl. You know, holding hands with your precious Lover Boy," He growls.

"Do you not understand that I have to? I have to pretend that I'm in love with him, do you think I want to? Do you think I enjoy seeing you all pissed off and jealous?" I hiss. "I thought you knew me better,"

"It seems like you do," He glares at me.

"I don't want to fight with you, Cato. And you're the one talking, you called me filth in the interview." I try to push him back, but he shoves me back against the wall.

"Ow," I protest, but he ignores me.

"I had to talk shit on the underdogs, Brutus told me to." He clenches his teeth in anger.

I blink, feeling stupid. "I thought.." I glare at him. "Why didn't you tell me that before?"

"You were too busy getting mad at me," He scoffs.

"Are we still together..?" I softly ask him, remembering when he said he was finished with me last night.

"I want to be," He replies in a gentle tone. "I love you.."

As he softly plants kisses down my neck, I place my arms around his neck and bury my head on his shoulder. "I missed you so much," I mumble.

"I missed you, too." He replies in between kisses.

I stare up at him and stroke his cheek as he kisses my lips. The kiss is lustful, and needy. Our kisses become more rushed, and deeper. He grunts, and lifts me up against the wall. I place my legs around his waist as we continue to kiss each other.

I kiss his neck, and watch as he tries to suppress a moan when I kiss his sweet spot.

As he's holding me, he brings his hand up to my waist and lightly tugs on my pants. "I want you…so bad." He presses his forehead against mine.

I instantly know what he means. Of course, he wants sex.

"Not now, we can't do it.." I kiss his lips.

I've never done it before, and I slightly realize that's he's probably experienced with it.

He sighs, and strokes my shoulder. "When?"

I blink and nuzzle my head against the crook of his neck. "After the Games, maybe."

I grow stiff as I realize what I just said.

Cato realizes it as well.

"Katniss, there's only one winner." He whispers.

A tear rolls down my cheek as I tighten my embrace around his neck. "It's going to be you, I promise." I choke, but then realize that if Cato lives, then Peeta dies.

I hate the situation I'm in.

He shakes his head and sets me back down on the floor. "No, listen to me." He tilts my head up to stare at him. "It's going to be you, I already said I'll protect you."

My mouth opens in disbelief. "No, I'm not letting you die!" I protest.

"You have to," He hisses.

I bury my face into his chest. "No, no.." I murmur.

"Shh," He kisses my forehead and strokes my hair.

"Screw, Snow." I narrow my eyes. "I can find out a way to keep us all alive."

And by us, I mean me, Peeta, and Cato.

"No, you can't. He'll kill you this time," Cato replies.

I sigh in frustration.

I continue to hold Cato and bury my face into his chest as the minutes go by. I nearly forget about Haymitch and Peeta back in the Training Room.

"We have to go," I glance up at Cato. "Haymitch is probably wondering why I'm taking so long,"

"Yeah," He lets me go, and allows me to step away from the wall.

"Try and come to my room tonight," I tell Cato, who seems skeptical at first.

"Please," I whisper.

"Alright, I'll try." He sighs.

I open the door and look out the hallway to see if anyone was coming. When I saw the coast was clear, I turn back to glance at Cato.

He nods and follows me outside of the room. We try and keep our distance as we both enter the Training Room, with him a little ways behind me.

I instantly make my way back towards Peeta and Haymitch. I try to sneak in beside them, trying to be unnoticeable.

However, Haymitch sees me and raises an eyebrow. "You sure took a long time,"

I shrug, like it was no big deal. "There was a line,"

"A line? I didn't see anymore tributes leaving or coming back," Haymitch replies.

"Maybe you didn't notice when they left," I suggest.

"Maybe," Haymitch narrows his eyes.

I nearly breathe a sigh of relief once Haymitch shrugs it off and goes back to training us.

Hours and hours pass, before we finally stop training. We head back to our suite, where Effie, Cinna, and Portia are waiting for us in the dinner table.

I silently wish they could've let me shower and get ready first before joining them for dinner. However, my hungry stomach speaks otherwise.

I sit next to Peeta as Haymitch sits across from us.

I instantly grab a turkey leg from one of the plates and start to eat it. As the minutes go by, everyone stays silent. The only thing I hear is the clanging of silverware and plates being moved.

"So, how was training?" Effie decides to break the silence.

"Good, although, we kept getting glares from the careers." Haymitch smiles.

I take a sip from my water and refrain from saying anything.

"It's best to just ignore them," Effie replies.

When I expect Cinna to say something, he doesn't. He just stays oddly silent, as if he's hiding something.

I instantly feel confused. He never hides anything from me.

"The careers are going to be tough to beat this year," Haymitch explains, as he puts butter on his toast. "Gloss and Cashmere from 1 are both deadly, and both tributes from 2 are brutal killers. I've seen Enobaria kill a tribute with just using her teeth. And Cato, well both of you know how brutal he can be." He stares at both me and Peeta.

I continue to stay silent as he talks about the careers. I feel like changing the subject.

"Yeah, we do. I almost lost my leg because of him." Peeta comments.

"If you two got by the careers once before, I'm sure you can do it again." Effie encourages us.

"Yeah, we'll just avoid them." I shrug.

Once dinner finishes, I excuse myself from the table and go straight into my room. I hop into the shower, feeling refreshed as I wash all the sweat from me. Once I get out of the shower, I throw some blue pajamas on me. It consisted of a shirt and soft pants. It tended to get cold in the suite, since they kept the air conditioner so high.

I step out of the bathroom and inside my room, where I'm met with Peeta.

"I just wanted to come say goodnight," He blinks at me.

"Oh, okay." I step closer to him as he takes me in his arms. "Goodnight,"

"Wake me up if you have another nightmare, alright?" Peeta tells me, concerned.

I nod, and manage to give him a small smile. "Thanks, I will."

He lets go of me and walks back to his room, where a dim light was left on. I make my way towards my bed, after closing my door. I sigh and allow myself to fall back on soft covers of the bed.

I turn off the lamp light next to me, before silently staring up at the ceiling. I reach for the remote next to me and start to play with it, looking at the different backgrounds on my wall. I decide to go back to the forest background, since it reminds me so much of home.

I miss it so much.

I sigh, and grab a pillow, softly admiring the view of the forest.

I silently think I'm never going to see it again. Home seems like such a distant place right now. It's only a mere memory.

I hug the pillow and press my face against it. I listen to the soft chirping of birds in the background, and tree branches rustling in the distance.

I begin to relax and close my eyes against the pillow, before I hear my door open. Using the remote, I turn off the forest background and stare into the darkness.

"Who's there..?" I softly ask, thinking maybe it was Peeta coming to say something else.

The person doesn't answer, but instead climbs on my bed.

I freeze and try to move away, before the voice finally answers.

"Relax, it's me." The voice says. I instantly recognize it.

"Cato," I breathe, allowing him to get under the covers with me. He pulls me close and lightly kisses my neck.

"How did you get in?" I stroke his cheek.

"It was easy, there were no Peacemakers around. And everyone was sleeping," He whispers.

I nuzzle my head against his chest. "I'm so glad you're here,"

"So am I," He kisses my lips and softly strokes my back.

I try and kiss him back, but it was hard to see in the darkness of the room.

"Can you turn on a light or something? I can barely see you," He strokes his thumb across my chin.

I try and think of something I could turn on to dim the room, and an idea suddenly crosses my mind. I smile and grab the remote, turning on the forest background.

The background allows us to see each other, since it serves as a night light.

"Better," Cato glances at the forest, before leaning down to kiss me.

I place my arms around his neck as we deepen the kiss. I start to tug on his shirt as he slowly gets on top of me.

He takes his shirt off and tosses it on the floor, revealing his gorgeous, muscular body.

I give him a small smile as he leans down and kisses me again.

I run my fingers through his hair as I wrap my legs around his waist. He pulls away for a few seconds, as he tugs on my pants.

I suddenly reach down and try to keep them on, realizing what we were about to do. I stare at him, slightly panting.

"Come on, babe.." He presses his forehead against mine, in order to reassure me. "Please,"

I stay silent as I glance the other way, trying to think about it. He had a point. I had told him that we would do it after the Games, but there's no telling what might happen. I bite my lip and stare at him, as I place my arms around his neck once again.

I nod, finally giving in. "Okay,"

He smirks at me, and plants light kisses down my neck. I lay underneath him, slightly nervous.

"Be gentle," I say. "It's my first time,"

"I will, I promise." He kisses my cheek and begins to pull down my pants.

I press my forehead against his shoulder as he completely takes off my pants and tosses it on the floor.

He unbuttons my shirt, and tosses it on the floor, revealing my bra. He plants kisses down my collarbone, before softly nuzzling my stomach.

I sigh in happiness as my eyes flutter close.

I sit up for a few seconds as he unclasps my bra. I embrace him and kiss his neck, softly nibbling on his sweet spot once again.

He lets out a light moan as he places me against the bed again, tossing aside my bra. As we continue to kiss, he begins to slip off his pants and his boxers. I slightly gasp as he pulls down my underwear, and I suddenly realize that we're both completely naked.

He slightly lifts the covers, and I turn away once I see it.

He's huge.

I shut my eyes as he begins to stroke my shoulder in reassurance.

I just hope it doesn't hurt too much.

He slips inside of me, and I instantly tighten my embrace and bury my head into his shoulder. Pain instantly surges though my pelvis.

I fail to hide my pain when I give a small whimper.

He notices this, and kisses my shoulder. "Shh, it gets better, I promise.."

I nod, and try to give a soft inhale to calm my nerves. He begins to slowly rock his hips against mine, and I silently wish that I didn't feel so uncomfortable.

However, as soon as the pain slowly fades away, I feel instant pleasure.

I bring my head back against the pillow, letting out a loud moan.

He leans down and kisses my collarbone. "Shh, you have to keep quiet, babe. Or else they'll hear us,"

I softly pant as I nod at him.

His rocking becomes a little bit more faster, and I lean my head against his forehead.

"I love you, so much.." I murmur as we both pant against each other.

"I love you, too." He whispers, and nuzzles his forehead against mine.

* * *

><p><strong>Cato's POV<strong>

After an hour passes, I finally pull away from her. I breathe in heavy gasps as I stare at her.

Damn, she's beautiful.

Her wet, dark, crumpled hair splayed across the pillow, and her flushed cheeks.

I lean down and softly kiss her on the lips. She kisses me back, almost instantly. I allow myself to rest on her.

Her moans almost made me lose myself. I silently cursed myself when I had to tell her to be more quiet. I hated that we had to do stuff in secrecy because of the stupid Capitol.

I get off of her, to lay beside her. I pull her close to me as she rests her head against my chest, slowly falling asleep.

I watch as she closes her eyes, her long eyelashes softly caressing her cheeks.

It made me so damn happy to know I was her first time, and always will be.

I gently kiss her forehead, before falling asleep as well.

* * *

><p><em>AN: _**Yay! I updated a lot sooner this time! As you noticed, I had to change the rating, because of the sex scene and Cato's language. At least I hope it's rated M now, I'm not sure. It take some time to update. Hope you like this chapter, guys! Review! :)**


	26. Always

**Katniss's POV**

I slowly opened my eyes, silently staring at the wall on the other side of the room. I slept soundly last night, for the first time in years. I scan my surroundings, discovering Cato embracing my back next to me, still sound asleep. I nearly forgot that he slept with me..

I feel my cheeks slightly flush red as I discover that both of us were still naked under the covers.

I slowly move my legs under the covers to try and position myself on my back. However, I instantly regret it as aching pain surges into my pelvis. I try and hide a whimper as I turn around to face Cato. My pelvis was probably sore from sex the first time, and I realized that it would probably stay sore for a couple more days.

Great, one more thing to hide from Haymitch and the others.

I rest my head against Cato's arm as I softly stroke his cheek.

He gives a deep sigh, before moving against the covers to move closer to me. He leans down and plants a soft kiss on my shoulder, still half-asleep.

"Morning, babe." He murmurs.

My eyes widen as I hear him say "morning."

Oh my god.

Haymitch could be up any minute. He usually wakes us up early for breakfast, either him or Effie.

"What time is it?" I quickly ask, trying not to sound so loud.

"Probably six or something. Still early.." Cato protests. "Go back to sleep,"

I roll away from Cato towards the edge of the bed, where I had a clock on the small drawer.

It read 6:15

Haymitch always wakes us up at eight.

Alright, I still had time.

"Cato, you have to get up." I turn to him and softly nudge his shoulders. I nearly feel sorry for waking him up. He looks so peaceful asleep, like an angel.

"Why?" He mumbles.

"What time do the careers get up to go to the Training Room?" I ask him. I knew the careers always got up more earlier than us to go train. But I didn't know how much earlier. Whether it be ten minutes to two hours. If he had to get up two hours earlier than us, then we were screwed.

"The training room?" His brows furrowed, and his eyes continued to remain close.

I stare at him, confused. Did he even know where he was?

Hello, Cato! The Games..? We're supposed to hate each other? As in like if anyone caught us in this room together we were dead?

However, it's almost as if he read my mind, since his eyes flew wide open at that very second.

"Fuck," He mutters, and tries to get out from under the covers.

"When do they wake you up, Cato?" I frantically ask, concerned.

He curses under his breath and turns to glance at me before pulling the covers completely off him. "Can you pass me my boxers?" He asks.

I bite my lip and slightly lean off the bed to search on the floor for his boxers. I bite my tongue to keep from laughing. I don't know why I found it so funny, since we were in a hurry to get out of the bedroom.

"I'm not touching them," I can't keep myself from smiling as I stare at him.

"I don't care, find them!" He playfully tosses a pillow at me, trying to hide his grin.

I lean down and grab my underwear from the floor, before pulling them back on me. I step out from bed and try and search the other side of the bed.

I barely notice Cato watching me, lustfully staring at my bare chest.

"Damn, you're beautiful.." He comments.

I manage a small squeal as I realize what he's talking about, and I instantly hold my arms over my chest in order to cover my breasts. I slip down onto the floor and grab a nearby pillow to cover my chest with it.

He chuckles at me.

"Don't try and hide from me, Katniss, I already saw all of your naked body last night, trust me." He smirks.

I suddenly realize he's right. However, that doesn't stop me from trying to cover myself. "So what? I still have some dignity left," I hug the pillow.

As I search among some of the blankets that were accidentally tossed onto the floor, I find my bra and turn around to slip it over my chest.

I hear Cato sigh. "So are you going to find my boxers or not?"

"I'll find them," I reply.

"I don't have any problem with finding them myself. I'll get up and look for them, unless you want to see my-"

"Alright, alright! I'll look for them!" I instantly interrupt him, realizing what he meant. My entire face flushed red. He knew I was touchy about showing our private parts to each other, especially since his was huge.

I hear him give a small chuckle. "Go on, Firegirl."

I get up from the floor, but as I feel pain go through my aching pelvis once again, I bite my lip and lean against the bed for support. I try to hide the pain from my face as I walk towards the other side of the bed in search for his boxers.

Cato quickly notices my pain. "Are you alright?" He asks, slightly concerned.

"Yeah," I say, acting like it was no big deal. Instead of getting back down on the floor, I kick through the blankets and try to feel under the bed with my feet.

"Are you sore?" He asks again.

"A little," I reply.

"The pain should go away in a few days," He reassures me.

I nod, as I continue to search through the blankets. When I finally find his grey boxers, I kick them towards him. "Found them," I say.

"Thanks," He picks his boxers up and slips them on, before pulling the covers off and getting up off the bed.

I stay standing, as he comes towards me and embraces me, softly kissing my lips. I place my arms around his neck and kiss him back. He kisses my shoulder and strokes my arms as I lean against him.

"Go find your pants and shirt," I tell him, reminding him that we had to hurry.

"Sorry," He pulls away from me. "You're distracting me,"

I give him a small smile as I cross my arms.

He finds his pants on the floor and pulls them on, before searching for his shirt. I help him search too, as I kick around the blankets. As soon as I find my shirt, I pick it up and put it on me.

However, we both suddenly freeze as we hear doors closing and opening from outside my room.

"They're awake," I whisper, with dread.

He moves across the room and tosses pillows and blankets aside to quickly try and find his shirt. "Shit, I can't find it.." He hisses.

"Forget it, then. We need to get you back to your room," I urgently reply. "If I find it, I'll find a way to give it back to you,"

"Fine," He agrees, before turning to face me.

I silently find myself staring at his gorgeous, muscular chest. I honestly didn't mind at all if he couldn't find his shirt.

I turn away for a brief moment to stare back at my closed door. I was slightly afraid to open it, half-expecting Haymitch to pop inside any minute. I bite my lip and place my hand against the knob, turning it very slowly.

As I open my door, I feel my head spin with nervousness. I slowly step outside of the room with Cato close behind me. Just as soon as we step out, a door closes to a room next to mine. I could only assume it was either Haymitch or Peeta.

I wait for a few seconds, until everything was completely silent.

"Come on," I whisper, grabbing onto Cato's hand and softly pulling him towards the other side of the hallway where the dining table and the exit led to. When we cautiously stepped inside the dining room, we discovered that no one was up yet.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Be careful when you go out, okay?" I silently murmur, turning around to meet his blue gaze.

"I will, don't worry." He softly brings me into his embrace, while kissing the top of my head.

I press my head against his chest, silently wondering when I would see him again. He couldn't keep sneaking into my room everyday, it was way too risky. We would have to think of something else on how to meet up.

"Can we see each other again? Before the Games start?" I give a miserable sigh.

"I don't know, babe." He presses his forehead against mine, causing me to gently brush my lips across his. "I'll try to sneak in again, if I can." He replies.

He glances up at the clock which was up against the wall close to the dining room. "I have to go," He whispers.

I nod, bringing up my hands towards his face to slowly caress his cheeks. "I love you," I say.

He gives me a soft kiss on the lips. "I love you too,"

His embrace becomes tighter, and I snake my hands around his waist as he plants kisses across my neck. As much as I don't want it to, our embrace ends. He pulls away and quietly heads toward the exit, giving my hand a slight reassuring squeeze before he lets go.

I silently watch as he opens the exit door and leaves the room back to the career dorms.

I step back as I sit myself down on a chair beside the dining table. My mind was spinning with thoughts, about what happened last night, and what was to come during the Games. I find myself smiling and slightly leaning my head against the back of the chair.

I avert my gaze towards the floor, briefly forgetting about where I was at that moment.

"Katniss," I hear a familiar voice say from behind me.

At first I think nothing of it, first thinking it was probably Cato who came back into the room to say something else to me.

But then I realize, it wasn't his voice.

My blood suddenly runs cold as I stand up and whip around, nearly knocking the chair back.

My shocked gaze is instantly met with Cinna's, who is standing a couple feet away from me, at the edge of the hallway. I'm so surprised by his sudden expression. It seems serious, like he caught me in a terrible act. I've never seen him so look at me with such a stern glare.

Oh god, did he see?

Did he see everything?

"Cinna…what are you doing here?" I manage to choke out. I couldn't find anything else to say right now. I barely even realized that I was standing only with a shirt and underwear.

He's quiet for a few seconds, as his brows furrow. It's as if he's confused, or trying to figure out something. He almost seems disappointed, and at that moment I realized that he knew.

"I saw you with that District 2 boy," He narrows his eyes.

I try to find the words to say something, but all I could manage to do was avoid my gaze to stare at the floor.

What was I going to do? Cinna knew. I felt so hopeless and frustrated. Obviously, he was probably going to tell Haymitch and the others. I nearly felt like lying, and saying something else. Telling him that I didn't know what he was talking about. However, I didn't. I knew there was no use since I was clearly caught in the act.

"You did..?" I merely whisper, unsure if he heard me or not.

He nods. "I saw you both in the beverage room during Training. I was in the room next to yours," He then explains.

I stare up at him, completely shocked.

He saw that as well?

"W-what?" I choke on my words, feeling so ashamed. How could I have not known this?

"And I saw you just now," He raises an eyebrow, while crossing his arms.

I avoid his gaze, trying to look anywhere else. I felt so confused, and stupid. I should've known that he knew, and why he was acting so strange during dinner yesterday. I give out a frustrated sigh, feeling slightly upset. I try to walk forwards, in an attempt to ignore him and walk back to my room. I didn't want to deal with anyone right now. I was so-angry with myself.

I begin to walk forwards, but a stinging pain goes through my pelvis, which causes me to stumble over my feet and fall forwards.

However, Cinna catches me just in time.

He shushes me, and softly strokes my shoulders. He gently brings me back onto the chair I was sitting on before. As I groan in protest, I feel my breathing quiver with anxiety. The last thing on my mind was my aches.

"Katniss…" He puts his finger underneath my chin in order to tilt my head upwards so I could meet his gaze. "It's alright, look at me," He soothes.

I was surprised by his sudden change of voice.

I stare up at him, about to say something in protest, but he interrupts me.

"I'm not upset with you," He explains, his gaze softening as he continues to look at me.

"You're not..?" I silently manage to reply, completely confused of the situation I was in. I thought he would be upset with me..

"No, of course not." He urges. "It hurts me that you would think I was upset with you. I'm not one to judge other people decisions, Katniss, you should know that by now. I was just-confused, is all. I never thought.." He cut himself off once my gaze sadly drifted back onto the floor.

"I know, believe me, I never would've thought I would fall for a career." I sigh.

"How..?" He asks me, with disbelief.

"It's a really long story," I admit, while placing my fingers over my scalp to push my hair back from my face. "Long, complicated, and depressing. I really don't feel like going into details about it right now,"

"This must be very frustrating for you," Cinna puts a strand of my dark hair behind my ear. "Hiding your love from the Capitol, being away from your sister, and pretending to be something your not in front of the audience,"

I bite my lip, trying to hide a small, but sad smile. Of course, Cinna would be the only one who really understood and knew what I was going through. He was the only one who ever knew. I hated telling others my feelings, so I really admired him for that.

"You have no idea, Cinna.." I suppress a slight frown. "I hate the situation I'm in right now.."

He nods and continues to stare at me, as if expecting me to say more. Which I do.

"I-I just wish that everything could go back to normal. I wish it was still last year, when all I worried about was going hunting that day and caring for my sister. Having fun with Gale-" I nearly choke on my words, feeling myself being suffocated by my own sea of sadness.

"I wish that Cato wasn't from District 2. I wish he was from any other District except the career ones. Then our lives would be so much more simpler." I bite my lip. "Why? Why does he have to be a career? Why did I fall in love with a career? Damn it-"

Cinna takes me into his arms, where I embrace him and try not to sob into his shoulder. A tear falls from my cheek as I desperately try not to cry. I sniffle, and furiously wipe at my cheeks to get rid of any stranded tears.

"Don't follow the Capitol's rules, Katniss. Follow your heart," Cinna reassures me, and softly strokes my back.

"Please don't tell Haymitch and the others," I swallow.

"I wouldn't dare," He nearly seems shocked that I would say such a thing. "It's best that we keep this to ourselves. The others may not be so understanding of this as I am, especially Haymitch." He silently explains.

We both take a brief few seconds to glance around the room in sight for the others that might have woken up. When the area around us remains silent, we continue to converse with each other.

"Thank you, Cinna." I whisper.

"Your welcome. I'll gladly cover for you, anytime you want." He reassuringly places his hand against my shoulder.

I give him a sincere smile. "I really appreciate that," I embrace him once again, relieved that I had someone on my side, and someone who I could trust. Seeing Cato would be a little easier now that Cinna was covering for me.

"I'm on always on your side, Katniss. You know that," Cinna softly explains, while embracing me back.

"Always.

* * *

><p><em>AN:_ **Finally an update after like 9 months right? I'm so sorry guys! I know this chapter is short, but I just wanted to update this chapter as a sign to tell you guys that I haven't died or disappeared of the Earth, lol. I've just had major writer's block, plus I've been busy with school, and my Dad was diagnosed with cancer a few moths ago..So that puts way more stress on my shoulders. Anyways, I hope you guys haven't forgotten this story since it's been nearly a year since I last updated. Leave reviews as always. I appreciate all the love and many reviews you have given this story :) And I'll try to update soon. Hopefully by next week, or the day I go on Summer break which is in two weeks. Hope you like this chapter, guys. Hugs :)**


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